Moments Lost To Regrets
by katiedv
Summary: Logan and Rory broke up after Honor’s wedding and the Bridesmaids debacle. She never moved back in with Logan. How long will their pride keep them apart and at what price? SophieRogan.
1. Aunt Claire's Legs Sprawled On June 3rd

Summary: Logan and Rory broke up after Honor's wedding and the Bridesmaids debacle. She never moved back in with Logan. How long will their pride keep them apart and at what price? Sophie/Rogan. Not sure if rating may change as the story progresses.

**Chapter 1 – Aunt Claires Legs Sprawled On June 3rd**

Rory walked in the door with the mail in her hands. She closed the door with her foot as she shuffled through her correspondence and the one addressed to Lorelai. She set her drink down on coffee table as she sat on the couch and untangled her purse from her arm, but held on to the bag of food she was carrying. She laid her head back and closed her eyes for a second. Why was she so tired? She had slept in part of the day and had only gotten up to shower and go to Luke's to grab something to eat. Her stomach still seemed unsettled after her hangover a few weeks ago. It seemed to have left her stomach kind of weak and queasy. She was able to eat whatever she wanted, but there were certain foods she couldn't smell.

She sat up a moment later and set her food in front of her. She started opening her mail and a flyer caught her attention. She dropped the envelope in her hand and picked up the flyer. A small smile formed on her lips. Jess. They were having an opening for their bookstore. Maybe she should go check it out. At least it would get her out of the funk she was in since Honor's wedding. She had felt hopeful when she had attended her bridal shower and Shira seemed to have wanted to take her under her wing and introduced her to other members of their extended family. She had made sure her friends had ooh'd and ahh'd over Logan's _girlfriend_, newest DAR darling and a _Gilmore-Hayden_. Had they ever seen such a pretty face? A few of Shira's friends noted that Lorelai had been such a pretty girl in her time, but not quite as pretty. _Imagine Shira, a baby with Logan's blonde hair and her blue eyes!_ A far cry from their first meeting.

None of that mattered now, anyhow. She and Logan were broken up two weeks after that and there wouldn't be a blond baby with blue eyes. She looked at the flyer again. This was important for Jess, and she was happy for her old friend. She wanted to be there for him. She had decided. She was going to go to Philadelphia to see Jess.

"Rory! Where are you? I need you to help me send June 3rd invitations with your pretty handwriting! Rory?" She heard a flush and more noises coming out of the bathroom. She walked towards the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Rory, are you okay?" More disturbing noises came from the other end. A few minutes later Rory unlocked the door from the other end and Lorelai peeked her head in.

"Hey, you okay kid?"

"Now that I've thrown up everything I've eaten in the last three days, I think I am. Ugh!" She brushed her teeth and rinsed her face with cool water. She walked out the bathroom and Lorelai followed her to the couch.

"I thought you were over that stomach bug. That was a while ago, wasn't it?"

"I guess I'm not. Maybe it was those hotdogs I had the other day. I knew I should have stuck to ketchup with relish. Damn that mustard with onions or ketchup without. Or maybe it was the chilly fries I washed the six hotdogs down with. I think that was it."

"You know, you've been looking pretty pale for a while now."

"Well as long as there's still a pretty in front of that pale."

"Hey, I've got the invitations with me and I need you to help me address them while I stuff."

"Why do I have to address them? How come I don't get to stuff?"

"Because, Luke's writing resembles my aunt Claire's spider veins, and you're the one with the pretty hand writing out of the two."

"Well why won't you address them and I'll stuff."

"Because, I'm trying to save you from licking the envelope. The taste of the paper might make you start throwing up again. You could ruin the invitations."

They got the things and went to sit on the kitchen table. Lorelai had accidentally grabbed Jess's flyer. "Hey, Luke mentioned this to me. It's good that he's finally doing good."

"Yeah, I was thinking of going."

Lorelai eyed her daughter curiously.

"What?"

"You're not doing this to get a certain blond boy off you mind, are you?"

"No, I am doing this because an old friend has invited me to witness an accomplishment of his that he has looked forward to for as long as I've known him,"

"Well as long as you're doing it for the right reasons. So have you talked to him?"

"Who, Jess? No, I haven't talked to him for a few months. This will give us an opportunity to catch up."

"You know I didn't mean Jess. I meant Logan. You haven't called him back?"

"I don't want to talk about Logan. Or _to_ him for that matter."

"Well maybe you should kid. It's not good that you haven't talked things out with him. I mean, if you're going to remain broken up, that's your decision, but I still think you owe it to yourself to let him explain himself. At least to get some closure."

"There's nothing to explain mom. He cheated, and that's that. There's nothing to explain. And since when are you on Logan's side? You hated Logan, so go back to hating him now."

"I never _hated_ Logan. There were things about him that I questioned, but they cleared up once I got the chance to know him a little."

"Well now you know that he reverted back to his old ways, cheated on your daughter, and that's that! So go back to hating him."

"Oh. My. God! I never hated him! And he didn't cheat on you! You two were broken up, weren't you? That doesn't count as cheating. You officially found out you were broken up on Thanksgiving Day. For all you know, he thought you two broke up that night you fought."

"We weren't officially broken up! To break up with someone you have to tell them that you're breaking up!"

"But you guys didn't call each other for weeks! He probably took that as a sign you were broken up. It's not like he has anything to compare it to. He'd never broken up with a girlfriend. He had never had a girlfriend before you. He probably thought that that fight was the break up. Did you two talk at all after the fight?"

"You know what? I'm getting tired of everyone being on his side. You can have aunt Claire's legs sprawled all over your wedding invitations. I'm done helping you!"

And with that Rory stormed off into her room and slammed the door behind her. Just then the phone started ringing. Lorelai sat there and let the answering machine pick it up. The voice in the other end didn't surprise her. He had called her earlier at the Dragonfly hoping that she could talk Rory into at least letting him talk to her. She had agreed to it because she was sure Rory needed to face this at least to get some closure. Now she wasn't so sure she would be able to do it.

* * *

Rory walked into the bookstore and absorbed her surroundings. The place had a bohemian feel to it, with creativity floating around the room freely. Jess spotted her immediately and they made eye contact. He excused himself and walked towards her.

"Hey, you made it."

"Yeah, I got the invite in the mail the other day. Thought I'd take a road trip to check it out. The place looks great."

"Thanks. Come, I want to introduce you to a few people."

They mingled for a while. It had started getting late and people had started to leave. Rory thought it was time she also headed home. It was late, and she was tired, not to mention that it was a three and a half hour drive back home.

"Hey Jess, I think it's time for me to start heading back home. It's late, and mom's going to be worried."

"No, wait, I want to show you something. Come upstairs with me."

He led the way up and opened the door to a room. "I live up here with a couple of the guys. It may not be much, but it's a starting point."

She looked around the room that he had turned into a bachelor pad. "Hey, you've done a good job with the place."

"Thanks. Come, sit down with me. You haven't told me what you've been up to lately since I last saw you."

"Well, like I told you, I'm back in Yale. I'm also editor of the newspaper. And you probably already heard, my mom and Luke are getting married June 3rd. I'm the maid of honor."

"Yeah, I knew about that. Luke actually called me yesterday and asked me to be his best man."

"Oh, good. So you will be coming."

He inched closer to her. "Yeah, I will."

Their eyes met for a second before closing as their lips met. The kiss was tentative at first, neither of them sure what they were getting themselves into, wondering if they should shy away from what it might turn into.

The smell of his aftershave filled her nostrils. She recognized the smell as something she had always around her when she was younger. Today it made her stomach churn unexpectedly. She pulled back from the kiss as fast as she could and placed her hands over her mouth and nose. She panicked for a second and noticed an open door that obviously led to the bathroom. She wasn't sure how she managed to practically jump over Jess to get to the door, but the minute she reached it she slammed the door and barely managed to make it over to the toilet.

On the other side of the bathroom door Jess could hear Rory retching. It worried and annoyed him at the same time. This wasn't what he had expected to happen after she showed up. He had hoped for something more romantic. He had wanted to see sparks fly. To see that their time had finally come. He was finally settled in on a career that was taking off, and she only had a year of school left with a solid path for her career. This was their chance to finally get things straight between the two and settled into the relationship they had always wanted.

Rory flushed the toilet and lowered the lid once she was done emptying the contents of her stomach. She turned the cold water on and splashed it on her face and neck. She grabbed the towel he had hanging behind the door and took a seat. She buried her face in the towel as tears started running down.

She had ignored the signs for as long as possible, hoping they would go away. Logan had been the first to note that she was three days late the morning of Honor's wedding as they were getting ready as she mentioned how bloated she looked in her dress. Maybe she should have gone with a different cut and color. This one was certainly not doing her any favors, and the green color was making her look pale. She should have gone with the icy blue with the sash at the waist. He had joked that in less than nine months they would find out if she was bloated or pregnant.

Now she was sitting in her ex boyfriend's bathroom crying while he waited outside the door for her. What excuse would she give him? She had to get out of there quick. She wanted to run home and lock herself in her room and not let the world in.

After a few minutes she opened the door and faced Jess, concern written on his face.

"I think I need to go home now."


	2. Some Friends!

**Authors Note:** I wanted to thank everyone for reviewing. I really loved reading through them. And for those of you who are wondering: Yeah, it's a baby/pregnant fic, but I am hoping to take it somewhere else besides that. The babyportion is just to let them (and everyone surrounding them)explore another angle of their emotions. Thanks!

****

**Chapter 2 – Some Friends!**

She arrived back at the apartment that she was again sharing with Paris and Doyle and dropped her bag of clean laundry on the floor before letting herself plummet down on the couch. She decided that she couldn't move. Not even if she really, really, _really_ wanted to, although she really, really didn't. The throbbing in her head hadn't ceased since she got back from Philadelphia.

Lorelai had waited up for her, worried over what had happened or could happen between Jess and Rory and wanted to be there in case she wanted to talk. She knew she was vulnerable and didn't want Rory to make a bigger mess of her emotions until she dealt with what had happened with Logan.

When she had walked into the house the night before she had started to walk straight for her room before Lorelai stopped her in the foyer. She asked her how it went and Rory just answered that it was fine, but that she was tired from the drive. She had answered her curtly and mentally kicked herself for it.

"_I'm sorry mom, it's just that it was a long drive and I have a really bad headache. Can we talk tomorrow morning?"_

"_Yeah, sure. But you're starting to worry me, kid."_

"_I'm okay, mom. I'm just tired from the drive. I'll feel better tomorrow."_

"_You're not hiding something from me, are you?"_

"_Of course not. What would I be hiding?"_

"_Okay, you want me to get you some aspirin?"_

"_Sure. No, wait. You know what? I think I'll just sleep it off."_

"_You sure?"_

"_Yeah. See you in the morning."_

Well the morning came but her headache hadn't left her. She didn't mention it to Lorelai though. She had thought of taking something for it but decided against it. She told her mom how well the opening had gone for Jess and his friends and how he mentioned that Luke had asked him to be best man. She was happy that her friend was finally doing well. They planned to meet mid afternoon on Friday at the Gilmore's. The three of them were supposed to go for the first fitting of their dresses, and were meant to come back just in time for dinner. She kissed her mom goodbye and left for school.

She took advantage of the fact that she was alone and took a nap on the couch. When she woke up she took a shower and got ready for class followed by a full day at the paper. She and Paris were also supposed to go out and have dinner tonight. She hoped her headache would be clear by then, otherwise they'd have to do it on a different night.

Rory walked into the newsroom after class and it was obvious the group was having a meeting without her. They all jumped when they heard her voice.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?"

The rest of them hesitated before Paris spoke up.

"Rory, have a seat. We have a proposition for you."

"Well, as long as it's not indecent," she tried to joke. She pulled a chair to sit on, but having everyone's eyes on her was making her a tad bit to uncomfortable. She wondered if the shirt she was wearing was too tight and immediately made sure she sat up right and sucked her stomach in.

"Rory, over the past few weeks the board has noticed that things in this newsroom have changed. With the exception of today, you're generally here before anyone and are the last to leave. There have been a few occasions that Doyle and I have noticed that you don't come home at all."

"Paris…"

"We know that you have almost doubled your work load in order to make up for last semester, and now we think…"

"My academic work load had never affected my performance as editor-in-chief. I have dedicated more hours to the paper than I have to my personal life…"

"Well that's the thing Rory," Sheila spoke up. "You've turned the newspaper into your personal life and we're worried about you."

"I don't get it. I still don't feel that my personal life or lack thereof has affected in any way my work on the paper."

"Rory, the board feels that you might need to take a little break. Give you time to mentally whined down…"

"What!"

"It's only temporary…"

"How temporary? Temporary how? We are already approaching the end of the year!"

"Our point exactly," chimed in Doyle. "Now, you don't have to worry about who's going to run the paper. I will be happy to temp for you as guest-editor-in-chief."

"You're starting to look sick Rory. You don't need that…" started Paris.

"You! You are trying to get back at me taking the editorship from you, aren't you?"

"Rory…"

"I am not looking sick!"

"It's only for a week, Rory. Think of it as paid vacation. You can come back Monday feeling fresh and rested." Doyle grabbed the back of Rory's chair and gingerly pushed her in it towards the door.

"Vacation! I don't need a vacation!"

"Rory, we're your friends, and we're just trying to do what's best for you!" said Paris.

And with that she was out of the newsroom, the door soundly closed behind her.

"Friends? Some Friends!" There was a guy passing by that saw her sitting in the chair outside. "What are you looking at? Keep walking!"

* * *

In her righteous indignation, she dialed her mother's cell phone number on her way home.

"They kicked me out! Paris and Doyle and the board kicked me out!"

"Kicked you out? Kicked you out of where?"

"The paper! They actually rolled me out the door while I was _still_ sitting in my chair and closed the door behind me!"

"But why would they do that? You're a great editor. What brought this on?"

"'You're looking tired, Rory. You never leave the newsroom, Rory. You need a _life_ outside of the paper, Rory. We're your friends, Rory!'" She was totally freaking out.

"Rory…"

"'Who needs the headache, Rory, when finals are so close by. And with all your extra work load?'"

"Hun, you are starting to, um, freak me out here. Can you stop referring to yourself as…"

"'Think about it as a paid vacation, Rory. Next week you'll feel so refreshed!'"

"Wait, so it's only for a week?"

"A week! A whole, entire, week!"

"A week is a week, kid. The paper's not going to disappear in a week. It'll give you time to finally take care of yourself and rest a little."

"I'm not tired, mom. Do I look that tired?"

"Sweetheart, you feel asleep on me halfway through our conversation this morning. And last night you were all snippy and in a crappy mood because you were tired."

"No, that was because I had a headache."

"No, you had that headache because you were tired. Tired and overstressed."

"Some help you are. You probably put them up to this."

"Hun, honestly, I think that they're seeing what I'm seeing, and are just making sure they give you the time to deal with anything that you might need to deal with that you otherwise might not give yourself the time to do because you've been so busy with the newspaper."

"I already know where this conversation is quickly heading to. I'll talk to you later."

She locked the door to the apartment and walked into her room dejectedly. She dropped her book bag next to her bed and let herself fall over the bed. Her headache was ever so slowly disappearing. Just as she couldn't figure any way for this day to get worse, her cell phone rang. It wasn't a phone number she recognized, but it wasn't private either. She decided to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hello Miss Gilmore. This is Diane from the Yale Medical Group. I'm just calling to remind you of your appointment at three o'clock this afternoon?"

"Appointment? I haven't made an appointment."

"Your assistant Paris called early this morning and scheduled it for you. She told me to just give you a reminder phone call an hour before your appointment. Also, remember to bring your insurance card and a list of current medications you are taking. We'll see you at three."

'_Well then, I guess I have a doctor's appointment.'_ It was probably best that she got it over with once and for all. On her way over to her appointment she kept going back and forth over what could be causing her complaints, burring herself into a deeper denial over what was truly happening.

The nurse brought her back and after the official taking note of the weight, blood pressure and peeing in a cup, they ushered her into an examining room and told her to sit tight while the doctor came in.

"Hello Miss Gilmore, I'm Dr. Ravie." He offered her his hand.

"Hi Dr. Ravie. Call me Rory."

"Okay Rory. I understand you've been feeling a little under the weather lately."

"Yeah, it's probably just a virus that's still not out of my system and it's just wrecking havoc in my body."

"The nurse mentioned that you've been feeling very tired lately. Care to expand on that?"

He knew. She was so sure he knew.

"Well, I think the tired thing is because I've been working very long hours and just haven't given myself the time to rest. But I'm off work for the next week, so that should help…"

"It's probably a sign of something else, given that you do have other symptoms…"

"Well, maybe…"

"When was your last period, Rory?"

She looked up at him sheepishly. "I don't really remember…" He met her eyes for a moment, asking her if she was sure. "It's been a little while…" He held the look a little longer. "Maybe a month ago? Maybe two months? It's been a little hectic. I always keep track. I do. It's just that it's been a while, and I haven't felt well, and I've been _so_ tired, all of the time."

"And you think this is a virus you caught?"

"Yes… maybe?"

"Is that all that's crossed your mind?"

"Yes… no," she was finally honest.

"Okay, Rory. Your urine test shows that you are pregnant, and I had a feeling you knew that might be the case. I'm going to send you to the lab to run some more tests, just to make sure there isn't anything else going on. I'm going to refer you to Dr. Roths. She is an excellent OB/GYN. I would suggest you make an appointment as soon as possible so you can find out how far along you are and start your prenatal care. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, I guess that's it. Thank you very much Dr. Ravie." They shook hands once more.

"Good luck to you, Rory."

She walked out towards the check out desk and waited for Dr. Roths information.

"Aw, he's sending you to Dr. Roths. Congratulations!" said the older woman sitting behind the counter.

She didn't know what to respond. It was like, inside she was frozen, but her mouth jumped at an answer before her brain did. "Thanks."

"Here's Dr. Roths information. She's on the second floor. You should probably just go down there and make an appointment now. I'll give them a call right now just to give them a head's up, in case she wants to speak to Dr. Ravie." She handed Rory another paper. "This is for you to take to the lab. You need to do it in the morning, don't eat or drink anything after midnight, and that means no coffee no tea, until after your tests. Got it?"

She was starting to get dizzy with all of the information. She just wanted to get out of there. "Okay, thanks."

She walked out the door and towards the elevator in a daze. She didn't even realize that she had subconsciously pushed the button for the second floor instead of the lobby. Once she figured what she had done she decided to just go along and schedule the appointment. When she reached the desk, an equally perky woman greeted her.

"Hi! You must be Ms. Gilmore. Here are our forms. I'm just going to need to make a copy of your driver's license and insurance card."

"Well, I'm only here to make an appointment for another time."

"Well Dr. Roths spoke to Dr. Ravie and Dr. Roths decided to make the exception and see you today."

'_Well okay then, I guess everyone can go on and make my decisions for me from now on!'_ she thought.

* * *

So she was pregnant. Nine weeks, to be exact. Dr. Roths had performed a few test, given her some pamphlets, and handed her a starter kit with a video, a 'What To Expect When You're Expecting' book, a baby on board sign and refrigerator magnet, and some prenatal vitamins. She was told to come back in a week to get the results of her lab work.

She walked into the apartment with ice cream, a cheese cake, a coffee and a hoagie. She ignored Paris and Doyle and walked straight into her room and locked the door. She threw herself face down on the bed and cried into her pillow. What was she going to do now? She had school; she couldn't take another semester off, much less a year. She would never graduate on time. She was trying to catch up as it was. If she took the whole year off she might never return to school.

She didn't even like babies! She wouldn't touch Sookie when she was pregnant, much less look in her direction after she had gone into labor. They were tiny people with abnormally large heads compared to the rest of their body size. And they were smelly and sticky, and covered with jam and other equally disgusting substance that she didn't care to find out what it was. And all they did was eat and poop and sleep, and then cry because they wanted to repeat it again a couple of hours later. She couldn't keep a turtle alive, what was she supposed to do with a baby?

And her grandparents! She was going to make them relive all of the humiliation that they had already gone through twenty one years ago! She had become her grandfather's pride and joy and now she was going to be the cause for the second time in her life for the Gilmore's name being thrown through the dirt. Her grandmother wasn't going to be able to face her friends. They were going to hate her for doing this to them! They were going to blame her mom for not setting the right example!

Her mom. She was afraid of her mother's disappointment more than anything. She, who had sacrificed _everything_ in her life to give Rory the chance for a future she had missed out on. She had thrown her future out the window the minute she turned out pregnant. The one and only thing she wasn't supposed to do, she had gone and done. It was the golden, silent rule. Don't. Get. Pregnant. She had done so well up until now. She was on the fast track for a promising career in journalism. Her dream. She was fulfilling her dreams, her ambitions. She was making them happen right now. There wasn't room for a baby in her dreams. Not right now.

Her cell phone rang and it made her jump back to reality. She sat up and looked at the display. It was Logan! She panicked again and quickly opened and closed the phone, hanging up the call. She hadn't thought about Logan in all of this. There was no place for Logan in all of this. He couldn't remain committed to her, much less a baby. His family would think she did it on purpose to tie him down or to at least get money out of them. It would be a lifelong tie to the person who had most hurt her in the world.

The phone ringing again brought her back out of her thoughts again. She decided she needed to make a pro-con list. She let the call go to voicemail this time as she reached into her book bag and pulled out a notepad. She immediately got o work on the con's list, adding everything that she had thought about already. The list was rapidly growing on one side. She figured she should try to find a few pro's. She racked her brain for a while, but anything she could come up with was immediately canceled out by a con. She put her pen down and looked around her room.

An overwhelming feeling of loneliness came to her. Who could she go to with this? She felt like she had no one to turn to for help. She was too ashamed to admit it to anyone. You could expect a teenager to be dumb enough to fall into this kind of trouble, but not this Rory Gilmore. She was going to be the new social pariah. Everyone was going to be gossiping about her and this was not the thing she wanted them to be gossiping about. Besides, they would want her to talk to Logan about it, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

She took the starter kit Dr. Roths' office had given her and dumped it all in her bed. She read through some of the pamphlets. _'Making a Choice', 'Medical Risks to Abortions', 'Keeping your baby', 'Choosing The Right Provider'_ and many more. They depressed her more, so she decided to give the book a try. It opened to the table of contents where there were a few copies of a black and white image. She picked them up and tried to make up what they were.

At the top it read _Lorelai L Gilmore, F, 21, 9wk_. She wasn't sure, but she thought she could make out the shape of a bean. Or maybe it was already looking like a tadpole? Yeah, it could be a tadpole. The sound of the heartbeat started thumping in her head, making her dizzy. She closed her eyes and put her head back. She opened her eyes again and looked up at the ceiling, not bothering to wipe the tears that kept rolling on the sides of her face. She had made up her mind, but it didn't make it any easier on her.


	3. Lost Messages

**Author's Note:** Thanks for all the wonderful encouraging reviews! For those of you who requested it, you get a little bit of Logan in this one, but probably not much on the next one or two. That's going to change soon, though.

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Lost Messages**

The girls followed Emily into the dress shop and a young woman rapidly approached them.

"Well hello, ladies. I hope you are having a great day."

"We most certainly are, Beth. Thank you for asking." answered Emily.

"Caroline is in the back waiting for you. Let me take you." They walked into a large private show room. Rory's phone started ringing then. She took it out of her purse and read the display. _Logan_. She opened it and closed it, dropping the call.

"Emily, how wonderful to see you again. Come, sit and have some tea." Lorelai and Rory took a seat across from Emily and Caroline. "Emily, you, as always, look wonderful. You always have such beautiful coloring. I've never known you to not look youthful." She served each of them a cup of tea. Rory brought hers up to her lips but the smell stopped her.

"Oh, thank you Caroline. You are always so kind in your compliments. So how are our dresses coming along? Because let me tell you, we are excited to see them!"

Rory's stomach was slowly beginning to do little flips. She felt her mouth start to water a little. She took a few deep breaths trying to control herself.

"Oh, they are absolutely gorgeous! You will be making such a beautiful mother of the bride that Richard is going to want to marry you for a third time! But let me tell you about Lorelai's dress! My dear, you are going to absolutely look divine! With those shoulders and that neck of yours! You should have been a princess. Just bear in mind when you try it on that it's still a work in progress."

"Oh, I will. I can't wait to see how it's turning out."

"You are going to make the most gorgeous bride Star's Hollow has ever seen, isn't she Caroline?"

"Of course she is. And Rory's dress is going to fit her complexion beautifully. She has such a pretty figure, and that face of an angel… Rory dear, are you alright?"

"Ah, yeah…"

"I've never seen anyone change shades that quickly. Maybe she just needs some air. Lorelai, give her some air," ordered Emily.

"And where am I supposed to get it from? The oxygen tank I carry around in my purse?"

"I'm okay, I'm okay. It just got really hot all of a sudden."

"I'll have Beth bring you a cool glass of water, would that help?" offered Caroline.

"Thank you."

Lorelai waited until Caroline walked out before saying anything.

"What's going on, kid? You still under the weather?"

"She's been under the weather?" asked Emily alarmed. "Have you been to the doctor? I'm going to make an appointment for you."

"No, I'm fine, really. I just felt really hot all of a sudden. I'm fine."

"You're looking pale now." Noted Emily. "Let me call my doctor." She pulled her purse into her lap.

"No Grandma, seriously. It's not necessary…"

"She's been overstressing herself at the paper, that's what's going on,' complained Lorelai. "Did you take care of that thing I told you to take care of?"

"Even if it's stress, you should see a doctor." She saw Emily pull her cell phone out.

"Grandma, no. I've already been to the doctor!"

"_When_ did you go to the doctor? _Why_ did you go to the doctor?" asked Lorelai.

What had she gotten herself into? She let out a long sigh before answering them. "Right after the coup d'état…"

"What coup d'état?" asked Emily.

"They sent me home from the paper. Said they noticed I was overworking myself…"

"See, I told you she was overworking herself. Didn't I tell you, you were overworking yourself?"

She ignored the comment and continued. "Anyway, they gave me a week's vacation. I'm back on this Monday."

"But what about the doctor?" asked Emily.

"What about the doctor?"

"Didn't you say you already went to the doctor?"

"Oh, that… Well, I went to the doctor," she stated simply.

"Ah, yeah, we get that part hon. What did the nice doctor say?"

Caroline walked back in the room with Rory's glass of water. "Here you are, dear. Sorry I took so long to get back. What do you girls say we go on and try your dresses?"

"Oh, me first!" yelled Lorelai.

"Well come on in and step into the dressing room. Monique and I will help you into it, since it's a little tricky."

Emily eyed Rory from across. She noticed her color begin to rise again to her face, only to disappear a moment later. Rory simply tried to look away.

"You know, I think if I stepped into the ladies room for a second, maybe splash some water over my face. That should make me feel better." She got up slowly, making sure the movement didn't make her any more sick than she was already feeling. She could feel her grandmother's eyes follow her. She made sure she locked the door behind her and opened the water faucet to let it run, and then knelt down in front of the toilet bowl.

She waited for the familiar wave of nausea to hit her again. She tried to be careful not to make any noise, knowing her grandmother was on to her. As sad as it was, she was beginning to get used to this. She figured that if she brought herself to vomit before eating breakfast, she was able to keep at least that meal down. At least now she could read the warning sings her body usually gave her before this happened, letting her anticipate and have a little more control over situations like this one.

When she knew she was done emptying her stomach, she stood up slowly, on wobbly legs and walked to the sink. She pulled her toothbrush and mouthwash out of her purse. She figured she needed to leave her house prepared from now on. She unlocked the door and opened it once she felt composed enough to face her mom and grandmother.

She walked back into the showroom, awed by what stood before her. Lorelai stood in a platform in front of a window, looking at herself in the mirror as Caroline and Beth pinned her dress in place and Emily admired her in it. It seemed like there were pieces of lace and tulle flying everywhere. Her mom was finally happy. It had taken her so long to finally see her mom and her mom getting along happily. And she was finally getting married with Luke.

"Oh Lorelai, you _should_ have been a princess!" she heard Emily say.

"Mom, you're in your wedding dress!"

"I know, kid. I can't believe the day is finally around the corner."

"Hem the bustle up a little higher, Beth. I want more of the ruffles to show. No, not that full though. She's going to look like she grew another backside, no woman needs that on her wedding day. There, that's it! Lorelai, you didn't want the train to be any longer, did you?" asked Emily.

"No, it's perfect."

"Beth, finish marking Emily's dress. Come on Rory, it's your turn."

She went and tried her dress on. It was made of a blue silk taffeta that matched her eyes perfectly. The gown was a strapless A-line that almost hit the floor with a hidden side zipper. She was able to close it up to her waist with out a problem, but it kept getting stuck from there on up. She struggled with it for a couple of minutes.

"Rory, how are you doing in there?" asked Caroline.

"I'm okay."

"Do you need any help in there?"

"Ah… the zipper seems to be stuck."

Caroline opened the door and found Rory very flustered. Obviously she had been struggling.

"Let me help you with that dear. Side zippers always give everyone trouble. Place your hands on your hips, honey." She tugged at the zipper for a moment, then decided to lower it and raise it again, since it was obviously stuck. She did this and it got stuck at the waist again. She lowered it once more, then pulled it up really fast.

"Ow!"

"What's going on in there?" asked Emily.

She had pinched her with the zipper. She lowered it a little and tugged up again. They struggled a little at the chest area. They had managed to zip it all up. She emerged from the dressing room and stood in the platform between Emily and Lorelai. Lorelai whistled at her.

"What?"

"What? What do you mean _what_? Since when do you have those boobs?"

"Since 1998, right around when puberty hit, remember?"

"You know what I mean. You did _not_ have _those_ boobs the last time I saw you."

"The dress looks a little tight," noticed Emily. "Did you gain weight?"

"Well, we can let it out a little…" said Caroline.

"No, leave it like that. With the boobs she can probably catch another boyfriend or two at the wedding." Rory shot Lorelai a mean dirty look. "What? You _so_ could."

"Rory, I think you should go with the other design we had thought about," said Emily. "The strapless with the ballerina skirt."

"The other design looked beautiful on you. And with that doll face of yours and that tiny little waist. I think you should definitely switch it to that," offered Caroline.

"You would look adorable!" said Emily.

"She would. And we could put ruffles underneath, like with Lorelai's dress. Besides, you can only pull off that look for so long. You should take advantage of that now."

"Yeah, Rory, take advantage of that. You only have a limited time left where you can still pull off ruffled underwear under a tulle dress with petticoats," joked Lorelai.

"You really think so?"

"Yes. Let me retake your measurements and make sure we have them down correctly. We must have been off on the other ones. Beth, get me my measuring tape. You can go change now Rory."

As soon as she was without ear shot Lorelai whispered. "She broke up with her boyfriend about a month ago."

"Oh." Caroline nodded her head in understanding. "Well that would explain it."

* * *

"Well it certainly looks like you're feeling better now," said Emily. "Your appetite is the same as always."

"Mmmm, the lemon chicken is great tonight, grandma."

"It really is, mom."

"Well, I'll pass your compliments on to Carmen. So Rory, you never told us what the doctor said."

"What doctor?" asked Richard.

"Well apparently Rory hasn't been feeling well and she went to the doctor the other day."

"Why haven't you been feeling well?"

"It's nothing. I've just been a little more tired than usual, that's all."

"But if you scheduled an appointment to see the doctor, it has to be because you really weren't feeling well."

"Well she had a stomach bug for a little while there too," said Lorelai.

"It was nothing, really."

"Well what did he say," asked Emily again.

"What did who say?"

"That doctor that you went to," answered Richard.

"Oh. He said that it was nothing." She looked down to her plate when she answered.

"Nothing? He said it was nothing? What kind of a doctor _is_ he? No one feels under the weather for _nothing_." Replied Emily.

She continued looking down. "It's uh… just a bug. He said sometimes it takes a while for it to completely go away. That, and maybe I had been working long hours."

"You should take vitamins. Your immune system is probably down. Stress does that kind of thing to you," mentioned Emily.

"I am." She pretended to separate the asparagus from the potatoes to keep from looking up. Then she started cutting them up into small pieces.

"Since when do you take vitamins?" questioned Lorelai.

"She should be taking vitamins. She's a young woman that has entered her childbearing years."

"Mom…"

"What Lorelai? Young women of her age should be taking vitamins. If more of them did, they wouldn't be having sick, scrawny children with runny noses they wipe with their hands and get other people's children sick."

"Ew, that sounds gross. Do kids really walk around with runny noses?" asked Rory.

"They do. And then they sneeze on perfectly healthy children in their nursery and get them sick. It's a vicious cycle."

"This is one of the most disgusting conversations we've had at the dinner table. See, you're making Rory sick again."

"You keep taking those vitamins, Rory."

"Well now I am."

* * *

Lorelai plopped herself on the couch. "I don't think I can move. Ugh, that was so much food. How does Carmen cook that much food for just one dinner? I can't believe you had thirds on every course."

"Hey, you did not have to keep up with me. You did that to yourself." She walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer. She pulled a dark chocolate bar and walked back to the living room. Lorelai just looked at her.

"What?"

"I can't believe you're doing that!"

"I'm cleansing my pallet. Make me some room." She sat on the couch next to Lorelai and turned the television on.

"Well now I see where the boobs are coming from."

"What are you trying to say?" she got defensive.

"Psh, I didn't say anything. So really, why _did_ you go to the doctor?"

"I went because Paris shanghaied me into it."

"Paris. Gotta love Paris."

"Well, you two can have each other. Oh, Gone With The Wind is on!"

"So what did the doctor say then?"

"I told you, he said it was a bug." She kept her eyes on the screen.

"A bug, huh?"

"Yes, a bug. It takes a while to go away. Sometimes up to six weeks."

"Six weeks, huh… hasn't it been longer than six weeks? Did you mention the stress to him?"

"He knows about the stress."

"And what did he say about the stress? Did he put you on those vitamins because of the stress?"

"Yup."

"You're not very talkative today."

"You don't talk when Scarlet's wearing a new bonnet."

"So have you talked to Logan?"

"No, I haven't talked to Logan."

"So when are you going to talk to Logan?"

"Goodnight, Rhett." Rory turned off the television. She let out a sigh before answering Lorelai, but not turning to look at her. "I don't know yet."

"But you will, right?"

"I don't know that yet either. Well, I do, but I don't know when. Maybe after Lane's wedding."

"Don't wait too long, kid. The sooner you get it off your chest, the sooner you'll start feeling better. I know that's the reason you're not feeling well. And I don't like seeing you like this, hon."

Rory turned to face Lorelai. She tried to get as comfortable as possible, bringing her legs up and sitting Indian style. She took a deep breath before speaking. "Mom, I want to talk to you about something."

Finally, she was getting her to open up. She turned her body to mimic Rory's.

"Now that you're about to marry Luke… after all these years… how do you feel about having given everything up, putting your whole life on hold, because of me?"

"Oh, wow… where's this coming from?"

"Well, I mean, you never got back together with dad after having me, you never felt like you _had_ to be together with him because of me, but then again, you missed out on everything because of me…"

"Hold on a second, I did not give up everything for you. You were my everything. You still are my everything. I didn't give up anything because of you. Rory, you are my biggest accomplishment. The greatest thing in my life…"

"You're not helping…"

"Helping with what? Now that I've lived my life up to this point, I wouldn't want to do it any other way. If it weren't because I had you, I wouldn't have broken away from my parents' life the way I did. You gave me the courage, the strength, to do it kid. It wasn't the easiest route I could have taken, and granted, my life could have been easier had it led me on a different path. But it wouldn't have been a life I would have been entirely happy with. Rory, you made up for everything I could have possibly gained otherwise. Your dad and I… if it didn't come to something more formal at it's time, it wasn't going to after all those years."

"Yeah, but what I mean is, don't you regret missing those moments growing up? To have the chance to see everything you want in life come into play. I'm sure you had dreams, and you had a plan of what you wanted to do with your life…"

"Rory, sometimes you can have a plan for things in life, but life will take you a different route and not care what the plans were, or whether they came over on The Mayflower or The Titanic, but that doesn't mean you stop experiencing life or enjoying it because you wanted to do things the other way. I mean, look at you. Your _whole_ life plan since you learned how to walk and talk up to eighteen was to go to Harvard and be an international correspondent. Who would have thought all those years that you'd end up going to Yale, and become the editor and chief of their newspaper?"

"You're still not helping…" She felt like she wanted to cry. The phone started ringing.

"Well I don't understand what you want me to say." Luke knocked before opening the door and walking in.

She was becoming upset. "I feel like you're sugar coating everything." The answering machine picked up.

"Sugar coating what? I don't understand how this ties in with me finally marrying Luke…"

Logan's voice started to fill the room. _'Rory, if you're there, please pick up. I… uh… I really need you…'_ She could tell he was drunk.

"Would you please finally answer that boy?"

"Fine!" She grabbed the cordless and stormed off into her room. She answered it and immediately started rambling into the phone angrily.

"Don't you think you've caused me enough pain? What makes you _think_ that you can call me at home after what you did? What makes you think that I would want to talk to you or have anything to do with you? I told you to leave me alone. Don't you get it? I don't want to talk to you right now! I can't talk to you right now. I can't even _think_ straight whenever the thought of you pops into my head. Why can't you respect that I'm asking you to let me be?"

"Rory, please…" he pleaded desperately.

"No, Logan. _I_ am asking _you_ to _please_ let me be. I haven't even decided what I'm going to do. I'm scared of what's ahead of me, and I just need to be able to _think_ clearly so that I can figure out what it is that I'm going to do, and how it is that I'm going to go about it, but I can't do that when you're calling me fifty times a day! I don't have room for you in my life right now. There are things I need to think through before I can even think of dealing with you! And believe me, right now I really, really wish things were different between you and I, but they are what they are and I need to accept that for now, and so do you."

She could hear him sobbing at the other end of the line. She herself was choking on her tears and couldn't seem to stop herself.

"My best friend is getting married tomorrow, and I can't do this anymore. Not right now."

She ended the call and let out a sob. What _had_ she just told him? For the first time in over a month, all she wanted was to be able to make it all go away and forgive him, and have him there with her, reassuring her with his confidence. Holding her, easing her fears away. She had made her decision. She just didn't know how she was going to go about it, and what the ramifications of it all would be. She didn't want to tell Logan until she had completely thought it through. But as much as she didn't want to tell him anything until then, she needed him to help her figure things out. Figure out how they were going to make things be okay. But there was no _they_ anymore. It was just her now.

* * *

Logan closed his phone and in anger with himself, he threw it in the direction of the water. It was all his fault. He took another swig from the bottle and somehow managed to crawl back up to his tent. He was crying and he didn't care if anyone saw him. He had been weak when he had fooled around with those girls. The truth was he had missed Rory during all that time, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to call her. If he had only called her back then, he wouldn't have gotten himself into this mess. The knowledge of how much pain his actions had inflicted on her pained him more than it did her. If there was a way for him to undo his actions, he would do it in a heartbeat. 

But he couldn't change the past. He only knew that Rory couldn't even stand to think of him right now. He needed her more than ever but she hated him. The thought of not having Rory by his side right at that moment smothered him. He needed to be able to smell her scent, to feel her body lying next to his. He needed to know that she didn't hate him. That she still loved him the way he loved her. That's all he wanted to hear her say; that she didn't hate him as much as he hated himself.

* * *

Like she had told him, she reminded herself that she had Lane's wedding tomorrow and she needed to be composed. It took her a while to calm herself. Once she stopped crying, she got herself ready for bed and took her dress out of the closet and laid it on the chair.

She paced around the room for a few minutes. She tried going to bed but only managed to toss and turn. She turned the light on and sat up in bed. She sat there for a while, thinking about what she had told Logan and the feeling that had surged through her veins when she had heard him say her name. Suddenly, the need to forgive him and hear his voice filled her. She needed to feel safe in his arms. She wanted to feel his touch, his kisses. She wanted to hear from him how they were going to get through everything together.

She pulled her cell phone out of her purse. She pulled up his number but hesitated and closed her phone before dialing. What would she tell him? It wasn't something she wanted to tell him over the phone. But right now what she most wanted was to hear his voice again. She dialed his number and waited for him to answer. It went to voicemail. She closed the phone. His message said he was in Costa Rica. Maybe he was having trouble with reception? She waited a few minutes before calling again. Still no answer.

On the fifth call she decided to leave him a voice message. "Logan, it's me. Please call me back. I… I really need to tell you something. I'll be waiting up for your call. Please call me back tonight." There was a pause. "I love you." She closed the phone and waited. She waited for a whole two hours before dialing the number again. He still didn't pick up.

Maybe he had decided to finally put their relationship behind him. She had finally done it. She had pushed him away and out of her reach. She panicked at the knowledge of that and what it probably meant. He had tried talking to her for a month now, and when she finally talked to him, she didn't even give him the chance to say more than two words. For all she knew, he was probably enjoying a Costa Rican at the moment. The thought of that just tortured her more. She wanted to talk to him; she wanted to make sure he was still hers, that he still belonged to her. She wanted to be able to exercise the power over him to get him to come to her right at that instant. The lack of control over the situation filled her with despair. What was she to do now?

* * *

When he felt himself sober up a little, he got an idea. Why not start the festivities sooner rather than later? He needed something to lighten him up, and he knew just what would do it. He tumbled out of his tent just as day was breaking. Day break. The perfect time to start a celebration. He walked out of the shed that held their equipment and walked towards the cliff. He had his parachute on, the raft in one hand, bottle of scotch on the other. He finished the bottle of scotch and threw it over the cliff. He heard steps behind him. Good, his friends had also come to join him in the early celebration.

"Logan, what are you doing?" asked Colin.

"I'm celebrating!" He started running towards the end of the cliff.

"Logan, stop!"

There was no time to stop. He had already jumped into the void.


	4. Taking Care of The Bug

**AN: Sorry for the wait. I've been busy planning things for my aunt's wedding. Again, thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! The next chapter should be up sooner than this one. Please enjoy and review.**

* * *

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**Chapter 4 – Taking Care of The Bug**

The next couple of weeks had passed slowly. She never heard back from Logan. After a couple of days her calls had gone straight to voicemail. Eventually she wasn't even able to leave messages on his cell phone or at home. It horrified her to think that she had finally pushed him over the edge and now it was he that didn't want to know anything about her. She thought about going to the apartment to look for him, but decided against it many times, scared that he would humiliate her by turning her away. She had finally come up with the courage to go yesterday. She was desperate to talk to someone about what she was going through, but she felt Logan should be the first to know.

After knocking on the door for a few minutes with no answer, she used her key to get in. She had never seen their apartment in that shape. There were clothes discarded over chairs and on the floor. There were a few dirty shot glasses in the sink, and the dishwasher was full of dirty dishes. She went to the bed where she recognized one of her nightgowns tucked under a pillow. Still no sign of Logan. She cleaned up the place a bit before leaving. George, their doorman, greeted her on her way out. He was very happy to see her, and asked how Mr. Huntzberger was doing. He hadn't seen him in a few weeks, and even then, _they_ were never there. He mentioned how Logan had told him he was looking into moving them into a bigger place, and he hoped they were enjoying it. She thanked him and told him she would pass his regards to Logan.

Rory walked into her apartment and Paris immediately jumped on her.

"Rory, talk to me."

"About what?" She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a banana. She turned to the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of milk and served herself. _What else did she want that went good with milk_? Oh, pop tarts and frozen pizza! She threw the pizza in the oven without preheating it, setting the temperature a little higher than suggested in the box.

"Is there something going on that maybe you want to talk about?"

She froze for a second before continuing nonchalantly. "No, why?"

"Look, I'm just going to be straight with you…"

_Oh no… Paris._

"Are you bulimic?"

"What!"

"Accepting it is the first step, Rory. Doyle and I are here for you, and we want to help…"

"Paris…" She grabbed her glass of milk, banana, and the box of pop tarts. The pizza would take half an hour. She went to sit at the table.

"You're not denying it, so it's got to be true. He is just a stupid guy, Rory. He doesn't deserve you doing this to yourself! You are a smart, talented, beautiful woman that he obviously never deserved."

"Paris, I'm not in the mood for this." She bit into the banana hungrily. "I went to the doctor to humor you the other day, and then another doctor to humor that doctor." She bit into it again. "I am not _bulimic_, it's just a bug, and that's as far as this conversation is going." She got up to throw the banana peel and serve herself more milk and started heading for the table again before going back into the kitchen and grabbing the bowl of strawberries and bottle of whipped cream from the refrigerator and then back to her room. She walked back again to get the box of pop tarts.

"Rory, please don't do this to yourself…"

"I'm not doing anything to myself; I'm hungry and I'm trying to feed myself."

"You are trying to soothe the soul of a hurt little girl that…"

"The door is closing, Paris. See you in thirty minutes."

Paris stood there for a moment, frustrated that she couldn't do anything. Then she got an idea. She went into her room and pulled her cell phone out.

"Hello, Diane? Hi, this Paris from Rory Gilmore's office. I'm trying to rearrange a few things on Miss Gilmore's schedule for next week, and she knows she has an appointment coming up, but she doesn't remember for what date she set it, could you confirm it with me?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't release any information. She will have to call back herself."

"Well she's traveling and doesn't plan to be back until her appointment, and if she doesn't know when her appointment is for, she might not make it back in time. I need to confirm that for her or I'll be accused of not doing my job, and then that intern will sweep in and take my place. That's going to leave me without the job I feed my five kids with."

"Okay, okay, let me check." Paris could hear her typing away. "Well she's not in the computer."

_Dammit._

"Let me check her chart and make sure we're not waiting for any results back from the lab before scheduling. Please hold." She went and pulled the chart before getting back on the line. "You know what sweetie? You're probably calling the wrong office. Try reaching Dr. Roths, she's in the same building."

"Thanks for all you help Diane."

She went on line and pulled Dr. Roths information, just as she had done when she scheduled the appointment with Dr. Ravie. _Dr. Maria Roths, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine_. "No…" she said to herself incredulously. "No way!"

* * *

After a few days in a Costa Rican hospital, Logan was finally out of the woods enough to be airlifted to a New York City hospital. He had yet to regain consciousness, but was otherwise stable. It was a miracle he was still alive. As if the alcohol poisoning wasn't enough to almost kill him, he had a partially collapsed lung filled with liquid, a severe concussion, internal bleeding, and a full set of broken ribs. But he was young, and after some emergency surgeries, his family was promised a full recovery.

Colin and Finn stayed by his side until he had regained consciousness. They debated on whether they should contact Rory. When they asked the girls for their opinion, they drew blanks.

"Well maybe we should call her," said Rosemary.

"I don't think so. Last I heard, she was avoiding him like the plague," replied Juliet.

"All I'm saying is that she might want to know."

"Why would she? She's been acting like a total bitch to him," added Colin angrily.

"Whoa, calm down mate. All we're saying is that she might want to know if he got hurt."

"Finn, you know _she's_ partially responsible for this."

"No, can't say I follow."

He hesitated for a moment, wanting to be careful with the words he chose. "You know that she's the reason Logan has been acting the way he's been acting. She's the reason he's been getting fucked up every night, pulling crazy stunts while he's drunk."

"Yeah, but this was planned. It was a Life and Death Brigade event. You can't blame Rory for that," said Steph.

"Try to reason with me here for second. Logan was drunk off his ass with a phone in his hand the last time I saw him the night before. I tried to get him to talk to me and he wouldn't. He was upset. He was also drunk when he jumped. So drunk he barely managed to get his parachute open, and even that I think he did accidentally."

"But Colin, you can't blame her for that…"

"Juliet, didn't you tell me you heard him crying?"

"I saw him crying. Of all things, I never thought I'd see him that way."

"And I know he was talking to Rory because Rosemary and I were eavesdropping," admitted Stephanie.

"So whatever they talked about pushed Logan off that cliff," reasoned Colin.

Just then Honor showed up. "Hey guys, how is he?"

"He's much better. He's resting right now, they're looking into releasing him either today or tomorrow," Colin answered.

"Are my parents here?"

"Nah, they haven't been here in a few days. They pretty much made sure he was going to live and left."

"Has someone called Rory? I think Logan would like her here."

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not? I know they're not really talking right now, but she might want to know, and I'm sure Logan wants her here…"

"Logan and Rory talked the night before he jumped off the cliff. And it wasn't good."

"Oh no…" she said with regret. She was both sad for her brother and sad for Rory. She knew that the humiliation she went through on her wedding must have been difficult, not to mention painful. She had a right to be upset. But Logan was also her brother and she knew he loved her. She knew they were both suffering over their separation, not just Logan. She decided that depending on the feel she got from Logan when she talked to him, she would call Rory. She wouldn't tell him though, just in case the outcome wasn't what she expected. "Before I forget, did anyone find his cell phone?"

"No, it never turned up," said Stephanie. "I think I saw him throw it at the river, so he can kiss that baby goodbye."

"Dad's going to be pissed when he finds out. He had a lot of contacts in that phone, and loosing them is going to be on the list of irresponsible things Logan has done. I'm going to go in with him to see how he's feeling. Are you guys going to hang around much longer?"

"We're going to go get some breakfast right now, but we'll head back to see if he's leaving today or tomorrow."

She walked into Logan's room and saw he was awake.

"Hey there Mr. Stunt Man. I hear they're ready to kick you out of this place."

"Yeah, I don't mind though. The food kinda sucks. So where are Colin and Finn?"

"They left you for better food." She drew the chair next to him closer to the bed and sat with him.

"Eh, can't say I blame them."

"So how are you feeling about going back home?"

"Well, I'm not looking forward to cramming finals…"

"You know what I mean, Logan."

He took a deep breath but couldn't answer. He looked straight into the air, trying to formulate an acceptable answer, but he couldn't lie to his sister.

"Maybe Rory…"

He shook his head slowly. "No, Honor. I don't want to talk about Rory."

"But Logan…"

"Rory… hates me." _Hates me_. She could see how it pained him to say and admit that. "She's never going to forgive me. She's made it painfully clear she never wants to hear from me. She doesn't want to know that I even exist, or cease to exist.

"Logan," she started quietly. "I think that she just needed some time to cool down and think. Sort through her feelings and process how things happened, and how you did not cheat on her."

"No Honor, she really does hate me. She's never going to forgive me. She finally talked to me the other night. I was drunk and I needed her so I called her. God Honor, the things she said to me…"

Honor couldn't help but try to remain positive, but it was heartbreaking to see him so demoralized. She didn't know what to make of things. She knew Rory had every right to be angry and upset, but she could also see why Logan never told Rory what had happened during their break up. She knew he never cheated, but understood how Rory could feel cheated. It was all a big mess of things and who knew when it would be resolved. She tried to lighten the mood by changing the subject.

"You're graduating soon, that's got to be exciting."

"You know, I'm not minding the thought of London as much now. I think today I was actually looking forward to it."

* * *

Rory woke up the next morning to the smell of pancakes and bacon. She wasn't quite sure how her stomach was going to continue to take to the smell, but she wasn't feeling any worse than any usual morning. She turned to see the time on the nightstand and was surprised to see a tall glass of milk and three selections of saltine crackers.

She sat up slowly on the bed, not wanting to get dizzy. After sitting there for a moment and having some crackers and a few sips of milk, she opened the drawer of the nightstand and pulled out a folded piece of paper. The _Pro-Con_ list and her ultrasound picture. She went through the list one more time, but none of it computed in her head. She folded the list back up and left the picture out, wanting to make more out of what she did see. There were moments when none of it made sense, and she had trouble believing what was actually happening. Right now she had trouble believing that there was actually a little person growing inside of her. She could see and feel the changes in her body, she just couldn't believe it was for that reason.

Today seemed like it wasn't going to be as bad with the nausea. It was probably the crackers she knew Paris had gotten out. Why she'd done it she didn't know, but she knew she was up to something. After making sure she wasn't going to have to run to the bathroom, she got up and walked out to the living room.

"Good morning," chimed Paris in a very un-Paris sort of way. "Breakfast is almost done, so you can go wash your hands before we start."

"Um, Paris, don't you have finals to get ready for? What's with the breakfast?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were eating right with all the correct vitamin intake and folic acid, because, you know, with a bug like yours, you need to make sure you're consuming enough folic acid. Here, have some fruit." She had diced fruit in a bowl and handed it to Rory. "So how are you feeling this morning?"

She knew something, she was sure of it. She either knew something or was trying to find out something. "I think I'm starting to feel better. I was able to keep down everything I ate last night without a problem. Hey, I'm sorry I snapped at you last night."

"Don't worry about it. I understand that when you've got a bug going on you just don't feel well, and that can make people snappy sometimes. Doyle and I just want to make sure you are okay…"

"Well I'm okay." She went into the kitchen to get some coffee. She was surprised to see there wasn't anything but some decaf instant coffee left. Ugh! Well, that was going to have to do until she left the apartment.

"Are you sure?" she tried to get her to open up a bit more. "Because you're still pale and those eating habits of yours worry me. I don't think you're using the proper diet to take care of that bug. You should probably be seeing a nutritionist. Has the doctor specified any diet changes?"

Here we go again. "I don't need any diet changes!" Here she was, getting testy again.

"I think you do. For example, you should stop drinking coffee. Coffee is bad for bugs."

"Paris, I don't need this right now. What I need is coffee, and there isn't any of that here, so can we just do this later?" There she was. She was snapping again.

"Just as long as you realize that I am your best friend, and as your best friend, I'm here for you, for whatever you might need to share, or not share, as the case may be."

"Okay, I see your point!" She stormed into her room and shut the door, only to open it back up immediately and run to give Paris a tight hug. "Thank you for sending me to the doctor and watching out for me and my bug."

"Don't you worry. Doyle and I are going to help see you through that bug." They retained the hug for a moment without saying anything, one friend lending out the support, and the other friend opening up to receive it.

"Okay, now I think the pizza from last night is gonna be coming up." They released each other from the hug and Rory ran to the bathroom.

"You go on and do that while I finish breakfast!" said Paris through the other side of the door.

* * *

Logan was released that afternoon from the hospital and traveled back to New Haven by helicopter. Honor traveled with him, wanting to make sure herself that he was well situated and settled in. George greeted him on his way in as he had greeted Rory on her way out.

"Mr. Huntzberger, are you alright?" He was alarmed to see the young man in a wheelchair.

"I'm doing okay, George. Just a little accident, but thank you for asking."

"I saw Miss Rory just yesterday and told her I hoped you two were enjoying your new home. She said she was here to settle a few things." Added the older gentleman.

"Oh, she was?"

"Mighty pretty lady you have in your hands, Mr. Huntzberger."

"Thanks, George."

They went into the elevator and reached the 12th floor. After Honor opened the door to the apartment, a different air could be felt through out. He could tell Rory had been there, even if George hadn't told him. She had straightened out the apartment and left it in a much better condition that he had left it in. He could see she had gone as far as making the bed, clearing the table, arranging papers and cleaning the kitchen. Not what he would expect of her visit. He thought she would come to pick up the rest of her things and leave her keys, but it seems that's not what she did.

Once Honor propped him up in bed, she moved into the kitchen to see what needed to be thrown out and what she'd need to buy from the store. She left to go shopping when Colin and Finn got there. When she got in her car, she hesitated for a moment before pulling out her cell phone. She dialed, and after six rings her call went to voicemail.

"Rory, hi. It's Honor Huntzberger. I was hoping I could talk to you. Could you please call me?" Just then her other line started ringing. She looked at her display and it was Rory returning her call. She clicked over.

"Hello, Rory?"

"Honor, hi. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. I was hoping I could talk to you, do you have a minute?"

She was sitting at her desk in the newsroom. There wasn't anywhere private that she could go to and talk. She decided to just stay there for now, hoping the conversation wouldn't get too awkward for her to handle semi-publicly.

"Sure, what's going on?"

"It's about Logan…"

"Well I figured as much."

"He had an accident. I just thought you'd like to know."

She felt her stomach drop and a cold chill engulfed her. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come to her.

"What… what happened? Is he okay?"

"He jumped off a cliff a few weeks ago in Costa Rica."

"Oh no, Logan!"

"I mean, he's going to be okay. He was released from the hospital today. Listen, I know things aren't good between you two right now, but I thought that maybe you'd like to know. He might be leaving for London soon, and I thought that maybe you two should talk before he leaves…"

"I want to talk to him. I've been trying to get in touch with him all this time. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago, then I called him back fifteen minutes later and he never answered me. I've left him messages and he never called me back."

"That's probably because he lost his cell phone after that. The guys say they knew you talked the night before he jumped, but that's all they know. He's under the impression you don't want to talk to him."

She could feel the rush of blood leave her face. "That's probably because of what I told him at first. But I called him back immediately…" she tried to explain.

"In any case, he was leaving for London right after graduation, but with his accident, he's probably going to be in therapy for at least the summer. Like I said, I understand you're both upset, and I don't want to get between you two and your problems, but maybe you two want to sit down some day and have a chat before he leaves. Because Rory, he is leaving."

Rory could feel the tears in her eyes begin to form, but didn't let them drop.

"Thanks for letting me know, Honor. I really appreciate it." It was evident in her voice that this was upsetting her.

"You're welcome. Take care Rory."

Rory closed her phone and held her head down with her hands. Sheila walked to her desk to give her some notes back, covering her face with the manila folder when she sneezed. Paris immediately jumped up from her chair with a bottle of Lysol and sprayed the air around Rory and Sheila.

"Paris! Stop that!" screamed Sheila.

"You're going to get Rory sick."

"They're my allergies, I'm not sick."

"Says the person who's been sneezing."

Sheila was about to put the manila folder in Rory's desk when Paris snatched it with a latex gloved hand. She made sure she sprayed it thoroughly inside and out before setting it down on Rory's desk.

"Paris, I told you, I'm not sick!"

"Rory has a bug, and to you that might not mean anything, but I have to make sure no one around her is sick to get her sick."

"If she's the one with the bug, then she's the one that can get the rest of us sick. You should be spraying _her_ with Lysol."

Paris held the bottle of Lysol up and pointed it to Sheila. "Step away from Rory and the bug." Sheila turned and walked as fast as she could in the other direction. Paris looked down to Rory. "What's the matter, do you feel a cold coming on? Because I don't think you can take any cold medication."

Rory looked up to Paris, a tear finally escaping her eyes. She wiped it away but thought it was best to get up and walk outside for a while to collect herself. She felt horrible at the thought that maybe her last conversation with Logan could have been the last. At least now she knew why he never called her back. Honor told her they talked the night _before_ he jumped, so his accident must have been the day after that.

In any case, she knew he was back, and she knew where to find him. Now that she knew that, she felt more at ease about when to tell him. It allowed her to concentrate on her finals, and let him finish with graduation.


	5. Gone

**AN: Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful reviews! I wasn't planning on updating so soon, but since it's ready, here it is! Please read and review!**

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**Chapter 5 – Gone**

She was sitting on a courtyard bench reading **_Genealogy of Morals_** waiting for Paris to go to lunch. Graduation had been the day before, and finals before that, so the campus was pretty empty by now, save for a few students still packing to go back home. An eerie feeling crept up on her. She chose to dismiss it and continue reading, but the feeling was still there.

He quietly took a seat next to her and set his crutches between them. He spoke in a low voice, just to her. He made her skin crawl the minute he said the first syllable.

"Please don't go. Hear me out for a second." He tried swallowing the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry for bothering you when you asked me to leave you alone. I promise I will keep my distance from now on." He was afraid to look at her for fear of letting his feelings give way and knew she did the same. He knew what having those beautiful blue eyes of hers on him felt like, and they weren't on him. Little did he know, she had closed her eyes relishing on the sound of his voice. "I am going to be leaving for London. I had extended the lease on the apartment until next summer. It's paid for, so if you want to use it, I would feel better knowing you're safer than you would be where you are at now. You don't have to worry about me, I won't be bothering you while I know you're staying there." He took a deep breath. "Goodbye Rory."

His presence had shaken her so much she was unable to utter a word. It was becoming more and more real. He was leaving for London. He was leaving for London for a year and she was going to be having his baby in six months. She opened her eyes, wanting to go after him, but he had disappeared.

She had gone to the apartment, sure to find him there. She knocked twice, and after not getting a response, she took her keys out and opened the door. Everything looked in order and clean. She called him out but didn't get a response. She decided to wait for him. He was probably having therapy because of his accident. She called Paris to cancel on their plans and waited. At first she had pulled one of the books sitting on the coffee table to read, but she became impatient and opted for a movie instead. She turned the television on and picked her movie.

She moved into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He was here, she knew it. The other day when she had been here the refrigerator didn't have anything, and now it was fully stocked. She made herself a ham and cheese sandwich and returned to her movie. When that was over, she put another movie in. She fell asleep sometime soon after that. When she woke up she looked at the clock. _5 o'clock_. Shit, she was going to be late to meet her mother and grandmother. She got one of her post it's and scribbled him a quick note letting him know she was there and wanted to talk to him, and she would be back that night.

* * *

"Where is she? She should have called us by now."

"Relax mom, I'm sure she's on her way."

"What is it with the new generation believing it's in vogue to be late everywhere you go?"

"Rory isn't late _everywhere_ she goes. She's running almost fifteen minutes late today, that's all."

"That's all you say? We're picking up our dresses for your wedding. I would think you'd be more worried about her being here on time."

"Well maybe she's not here yet because she finally talked to Logan and she's running late. Hmm, ever think of that, huh?"

"Are they back together yet?"

"I have no idea."

"How could you have no idea? I thought she told you everything?"

"Not everything-everything. Only everything up till this morning."

"How is she doing? Is she feeling better?"

"Eh, so-so. I think she's doing a little better, or getting really good at pretending she's feeling better."

"I'm worried about her. Maybe she's bulimic. You think she's bulimic?"

"No!" she said horrified. "Why would you think that?"

"She eats massive amounts of food, makes herself sick, and eats massive amounts of food again, then the cycle repeats. Isn't that what a bulimic does? You should take her to a therapist. It's all your fault."

"My fault? How is this my fault?"

"You should have a tighter grip on that child. Always be on top of her."

"Rory isn't a child anymore, mom. She's a fully grown adult. The reason she wasn't feeling well was because she's been stressing herself out and she was upset about Logan."

"Whatever happened between them, anyhow?"

"I think that is better kept between the two of them. Let them work out their issues."

Just then, Rory's car pulled into the parking lot. She ran towards Lorelai and Emily and gave each of them a hug and a kiss.

"Hi! I'm so sorry I'm late."

"Where've you been, kid?"

"Come on, let's go inside," said Emily. "Caroline must be waiting for us."

They walked into the bridal shop and Beth greeted them again.

"Hello ladies. Let's go on back, Caroline is finishing the last details of Rory's dress."

"I thought everything was done."

"Mrs. Gilmore's dress and your gown are all done and packed up for you. Rory's just needed a few minor touches since she had to redo hers."

"Hello girls," greeted Caroline. "I am going to take Rory with me for just a second so she can try on her dress one last time. Beth, could you please serve Lorelai and Emily some tea while Rory and I finish."

They walked into the dressing room and Caroline helped Rory put on her dress. The tulle underneath made it a little fastidious to get into, but otherwise she looked lovely in it. They walked back out to the showroom and she stood in the platform while Caroline arranged the crinoline underneath and puffed it out. It was an ice blue satin silk strapless gown that went down to bellow the knee with a couple of layers of tulle sticking out from underneath. It had faux blue satin buttons down the back with a pink sash at the waist that tied at the back for contrast.

"Oh, Rory! You absolutely look angelical," said Emily.

"Angelical vixen, if you ask me."

"Lorelai, honestly!"

"What? I was just complementing her on the boob job. Can't I compliment my kid?"

"Rory, ignore you mother. You look lovely."

"Thanks Grandma."

"So are we all set Caroline?"

"All set Emily. You can change now Rory." Rory got down from the platform and went into the dressing room. "Beth will help you get the dress boxes into your car. I'll go get Rory's dress ready for you to take."

"Thank you very much Caroline. Your dresses are some of the best custom made in all of Connecticut."

"Oh thank you Emily. You're so kind. It was a pleasure working with you gals. Congratulations on the wedding Lorelai."

They left the dress shop together and made plans on the way to their cars.

"I'm starving. Why don't we go grab dinner somewhere around here?" offered Lorelai.

"It's a little early, but it sounds good to me. Your father isn't back in town from his trip until tomorrow morning, and I didn't have any other dinner plans made. How about you, Rory?"

"Well I'm going to have to take a rain check this time. I was hoping to meet up with Logan after this."

"So are you two talking again?" asked Emily hopefully.

"Well… we might be after today. I saw him on campus."

"So did you two finally talk? How is he doing from his accident?" asked Lorelai.

"I don't know. I guess he's better. I know it was serious, but not _how_ serious."

"What do you mean you don't know? You said you saw him today."

"Yeah, but I didn't see him-see him. Anyway, I have to go. He might be home by now. I'll see you tomorrow for the Bridal Party. Are you coming Grandma?"

"I will be there. See you tomorrow Rory."

They watched her get in her car and drive off.

"I'm worried about that girl."

"I'll talk to her tomorrow morning and see how she's doing. But beyond that, neither one of us can get involved. You understand that, right mom?"

"Sure I do." Lorelai looked at her mother funny. "What? You don't believe your own mother when she says she's not going to interfere."

"Of course I would believe my mother, except that my mother is Emily Gilmore."

"Oh, stop that Lorelai. Come on, get in the car so we can go eat. I thought you were hungry."

* * *

Rory walked back into the apartment, her note for him right where she placed it. It looked like he hadn't been home yet. She would be waiting for him again. After calling Paris to tell her not to wait for her, she took her shoes off to get a little comfortable. She didn't want to get too comfortable because she knew someone would probably be helping him up. She went to the refrigerator again to prepare something for dinner. She decided to make _pasta alfredo_, one of his favorite and easy to make. She put a pot of water to boil and took the jar of sauce out.

She had set the table in between finishing dinner and cleaning stuff up. One hour had turned into the next and she ended up having dinner by herself. Maybe he had gone out with Colin and Finn? No, that couldn't be, as injured as he probably was. Sleep was getting the best of her and she walked towards the bed, looking inviting. She pulled his pillow to her, wanting to feel his scent close and found her nightgown tucked under it. It definitely wasn't one of her most provocative ones, but it was his favorite demure one. He had been sleeping with it, probably all this time. She thought for a second, then decided to put it on and just go to bed and wait for him. Maybe he would welcome the surprise. At least she hoped he would. She got the sense by what he had told her earlier that day that it pained him to part with her, so she held the hope that he would like the surprise. She wasn't sure this was how she wanted to do it, but she wanted to forget everything that happened and put it behind them. She wanted to tell him that she forgave him for what happened and ask him to forgive her for what she'd said to him that night.

Sleep eventually overtook her and she only woke up when the beeping of the alarm became too consistent to ignore. She lazily got up to turn it off. She looked at her surroundings and noticed how everything was the same as she had left it the night before. He hadn't been home. Worry overtook her disappointment and she grabbed the house phone to call his cell phone. The tone beeped a couple of times letting her know that they had messages. She sat down and decided to get the messages before calling him. Her initial worry turned into anxiety when she heard her voice come on. Message after message. He didn't get any of the messages she had left him at the house phone. After saving a few messages, she hung up and called his cell phone. Still, she couldn't leave him a message because his inbox was full. She hung up and walked towards their dressing room and she felt her anxiety turn into panic as she realized that most of his clothes were gone. Only one of his suits was left hanging along with a few ties and dress shirts. She moved to open his drawers and noticed that some of his casual home clothes were still there, but they were almost empty.

She moved to her dresser and opened the drawers. Everything that she had left behind was still there, unperturbed. She noticed a piece of paper on top of the dresser and grabbed it.

_Dear Rory,_

_The maid should still be coming in every Wednesday from 11 to 5. If your schedule changes and another time is better, don't forget to call her and arrange that. All of the household expenses should be coming directly to my accountant, so you don't have to worry about it. In case anything comes up, here's a list of phone numbers of people that can take care of things. Take care of yourself._

_Logan_

Realization finally hit her. He was gone. She went to get the phone and in a panic called Honor.

"Hello?"

"Honor?"

"Rory? What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Do you know how I can get in touch with Logan? I waited for him all day yesterday and all night. He never came home…"

"He decided to leave for London earlier as planned." She was confused. "He told me he talked to you yesterday."

"I… ah… he did. Kind of."

Honor could tell she was upset. Her heart went out to her, even if she didn't understand exactly what was happening.

"Listen, Honor, I need to talk to Logan. It's very important that I get in touch with him. Can you help me?"

"I don't have any numbers for him yet. He's supposed to call me as soon as he settles in. Dad probably knows how to get in touch with him, since he sent him there. I'll do whatever I can."

"Thank you, Honor."

She hung up the phone and gently placed it down on the bed. She looked around the apartment and it felt empty and lonely.

* * *

The party was in full swing by five o'clock. The whole townspeople were gathered at The Dragonfly Inn and all different kinds of alcohol were being consumed. Lorelai had been looking for Rory for some time now. She hadn't had the time to ask her earlier how her conversation with Logan had gone the night before. Just when she spotted her close to one of the guest cottages and started walking towards her, Babette and Miss Patty stopped her.

"This is some party you got going on here, sugar."

"It remind me of my bridal shower when I married husband number six. Now husband number six… he was a good husband."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourselves." She looked up to see Rory, but she was gone. "Hey, have you seen Rory. I've been looking all over for her."

"I saw her walking towards my punch." Said Miss Patty.

"Well in that case, I better go stop her before she starts dancing on tables. Will you excuse me?"

She went in search for her daughter, but Jess found her first. She was sitting under a tree, cell phone securely in hand.

"Hey you."

"Jess, hey."

"Did I scare you? You seemed to be lost deep into your thoughts." He sat next to her.

"It's okay." She looked down again. It seemed that the tables were turned and now she was the one that stuck to short answers to long questions.

"Nice party."

"Yeah."

"So… are you okay?"

"Yes, why?" she answered too quickly.

"I don't know. I just got the feeling that you didn't really want to be here. Or that you were here in body but not in mind."

"I've had a lot of things on my mind lately."

Jess couldn't keep his eyes of her, or how her dress made her eyes look a darker shade of blue.

"You look different, you know?"

"Different? How?"

"I don't know… luminous. Beautiful."

She stood up and brushed her dress of any grass that might have gotten on it. "I… I'm sorry Jess. I need to go… um… take care of something."

He stood up quickly to meet her eye to eye.

"Hey, listen, I don't want it to be weird between us. I understand if you don't want anything else than a friendship. That think in Philadelphia…"

"Jess I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have let things go that far."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. Are we okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay. I still have to go take care of something. Excuse me."

She walked into the in as quickly as possible between the masses of people. She looked for somewhere quiet where she could make a phone call. After deciding on the coat room she dialed Honor's number. It went to voicemail. She closed her phone without leaving a message. Just then Lorelai walked in.

"Hey, kid. I've been looking all over the place for you. Are you okay?" Just then, Emily walked into the room too.

"Girls, you're missing the party. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing!" answered Rory in a sharp tone.

"What's wrong Rory?" asked Emily. "I've noticed you act strangely for some time now." She eyed her curiously. "You're not bulimic, are you?"

"God, no! Would you people please stop asking me that!" She pushed Lorelai out of the way accidentally and ran out of the room.

"There's something going on with that girl. I told you!"

"Mom, stop that. I know what's going on! Logan is going on!"

"We need to talk to her Lorelai."

"I'm going to go find her. I've been trying to talk to her for the past month or so, but she refuses to open up. I know she's got something she's not telling me."

Emily followed Lorelai out of the room. They checked a few of the unoccupied rooms and found her in room seven. They heard her gagging and coughing in the bathroom before a flush.

"Oh, no, Rory…" whispered Lorelai. She placed her ear on the door and she could hear Rory crying. She slowly opened the door and what she saw broke her heart into a million pieces. Sitting on the bathroom floor was her only child crying inconsolably. She knelt before her and tried to console her. Emily was left startled at the doorframe.

"Rory, sweetheart…"

"He left! He left and I didn't even get the chance to tell him!" she sobbed.

"Oh, honey…" She embraced her daughter tightly, whipping her tears away.

"He didn't even bother to tell me when he was leaving…"

"But you knew he was leaving, babe."

"But he wasn't supposed to leave yet! He wasn't supposed to leave until I talked to him and told him! I was going to tell him last night."

"Tell him what?"

"I mean, the Con list won! The Con list won over the Pro and I couldn't go through with it! The list didn't work this time! It never fails, and this time… I couldn't do it!" she cried angrily at herself.

"What Pro-Con list? Hon, what are you talking about?"

"The Pro-Con list I made! The Con list won, but I couldn't do anything about it! You're going to hate me now! Everything that I've worked for, it's all going down the drain… I ruined everything!"

"Sweetie, I want to help you, but you have to tell mommy what's going on…"

"I'm pregnant and Logan is gone now…"

"What!" Lorelai cried out.

Emily could feel her stomach drop. The last thing she ever expected to see was before her. Her perfect granddaughter… She felt a chill as she remembered a similar day some twenty two years before. It had shaken her to the core to hear her daughter tell her she was pregnant, but her granddaughter? And to see her crying so desperately into her mothers arms. To see her own daughter suffering what she had gone through two decades before. But it hadn't hurt her the way she could see it hurting Lorelai right now. She had felt more shamed back then. Shame for what people might thing of their family. But Lorelai was hurting because of the immense pain she was seeing her child in. Yes, she had been pained by Lorelai's rejection of her, but not by seeing her own child suffering, and that, alone, was far worse.

"Grandma and Grandpa are going to hate me!"

That just finished tearing Emily apart into pieces. She did the unexpected. She sat at the other side of Rory and hugged both her daughter and her daughter's daughter.

"No we're not. It's going to be okay dear."

And there they were. Three generations of strong Gilmore girls, broken to pieces and falling apart. After some time, she looked down at her watch. It was getting late and the party would be ending soon. The whole town would be wondering where they were. She was surprised that no one had come looking for them. By then, Rory had cried herself tired and to sleep. Her sobs had turned into frequent sighs. Emily got up and looked in the mirror. She grabbed a face towel from the sink and submerged it into cold water. She brought the cold towel to her face and gently wiped her tear marks away. She let the towel rest in her eyes for a second.

"I'm going to go downstairs and thank everyone for coming."

"Oh, no… the party. They're going to start asking questions."

"Don't worry about them. I'll just tell them that Rory wasn't feeling well and that you needed to stay with her, and didn't realize the time go by. I'll be back."

"Mom?"

"Yes Lorelai?"

"Thank you."

Emily gave her daughter a smile. "Put Rory to bed. It's probably best if she stays here tonight. Don't go downstairs yourself." She walked out of the suite and closed the door behind her.

People had already begun to leave. She ordered the servers to start clearing things and cleaning up when Sookie approached her.

"Mrs. Gilmore, do you know where Lorelai went? She disappeared a few hours ago and no one's been able to find her." Babette and Miss Patty walked right behind her to hear the gossip.

"Rory wasn't feeling well and she decided to stay with her. She didn't realize it was this late."

"Is Rory okay? She's been looking sick the past few times we've seen her." Asked Babette.

"Oh, it's nothing, really. Just a little stomach bug she's been fighting off for a few weeks now. Lorelai just didn't want to leave her alone."

"Is she upstairs? Maybe I should go check on her…"

"No, Sookie, please. I actually need your help here. I'm taking care of Lorelai and Rory. Miss Patty, have you seen Luke or my husband?"

"I think I saw Richard with Mauri over by the pond over there." Answered Babette.

"Luke went to Lorelai's house to drop off some of the presents and to look for her."

"In that case I'll go fetch my husband. If you see Luke, would you mind telling him that Lorelai is with Rory and to just meet us back here tonight."

"Sure thing sugar."

"Thank you. And thank you for coming. I'll see you both in a week at the wedding. Have a good night."

She walked back inside to check on her girls, not letting her emotions get the best of her. She was going to need to be strong for both of them.


	6. Mrs Huntzberger

**Chapter 6 – Mrs. Huntzberger**

Emily went to bed that night without telling him what had her so upset. She didn't sleep at all that night. She spent it crying quietly to herself, thinking of a way to tell Richard what was happening. It was going to break his heart, that much she knew. The disappointment of Lorelai's pregnancy and the scandal had been appalling to live through, but this time around it was different. It was bound to make them both relive things they had felt so many years ago. It was the experience of their lives that they never wanted to relive.

And here they were, twenty two years later. Rory was pregnant.

Richard got up that morning like he did every morning. But this time he observed his wife. She was clearly too upset to even get up and that worried him. He sat on the edge of her side of the bed. She adverted his gaze, new tears spilling from her eyes. He wiped a few of her tears away, but new ones took their place. Richard let out a sigh.

"Emily," he started quietly. "Do you want to tell me what's going on now?"

She didn't answer him.

"I noticed that Lorelai and Rory didn't come down to say goodbye last night, is that it? Did you girls get into a fight?" Still no answer. "Well then, what is it, dear? You're going to need to tell me sooner or later. Come on, sit up."

He helped her sit up and in the process she wrapped her arms tightly around him and cried harder.

"Emily, now you're scaring me. Please tell me what's going on. Is there something wrong with Lorelai? Is it Rory? I know she hasn't been feeling well recently." She could see the worry in his face when he said Rory's name.

"Oh, Richard! If you only knew…"

"So then tell me. You're worrying me more by keeping this to yourself as upset as you are."

"Rory…" she cried.

"What is wrong with Rory?" panic entering his voice.

"Rory's pregnant."

The minute he heard those words come out of her mouth his face fell.

"No… that can't be."

"Oh Richard, if you had seen how she broke down yesterday. That poor child…"

"What does Logan have to say about this?" he asked more sternly.

"He doesn't know! They broke up and now he's left for London for at least a year! He's gone and left her broken hearted."

He held his wife in his arms as she cried. _There must be a solution to this_, he thought.

* * *

After last night's scene in the bathroom, Lorelai decided to approach the situation lightheartedly. Rory was going through enough, and quite honestly, she was sure she was putting herself through enough guilt without her or anyone else needing to add to it. Besides, the situation could have been a lot worse. It could have happened six years ago, but instead it happened in her last year at Yale. She thought positively. Everything else would come to its rightful place sooner rather than later. Everyone just needed to remain calm and level headed, and they would soon be able to come to a solution.

She had spent the night at the Inn with Rory and went home early in the morning to shower and change, and get a change of clothes for Rory. Rory woke up in unfamiliar surroundings after Lorelai knocked on the door and peeked in.

"Good morning sunshine." She smiled and walked in with a large tray of food. Sookie followed her in with a second large tray, then two other waiters brought in two other trays of food. They walked out after placing them down on a sitting table.

"How are you feeling today, Rory?" asked Sookie in a cheery voice.

She jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom.

"Well I guess that translates to not so good yet?" asked Sookie. "Maybe all this food isn't such a good idea."

"Don't worry about her. She'll be fine. You can set the tray down and return to hold your port. Tell Michel he better be holding his. I'm going to go make sure she's okay."

She walked into the bathroom and saw Rory bent over the bowl. She was holding her hair back with both hands. Lorelai went to her aide and helped her with her hair. Rory straightened up a little, her eyes were closed and she was breathing in deeply. A few seconds later she was bent forward again. When she was done Lorelai let go of her hair and handed Rory a cold washcloth. Rory held it on her face, welcoming the fresh feeling on her skin. After taking a moment to gather herself, she stood up from the floor and went to the sink. Lorelai handed her her own toothbrush.

"Thanks," she answered meekly.

Lorelai let her brush her teeth before saying anything. "So how do you feel about breakfast, Mommy?"

"Oh no! That wasn't a dream. I really did tell you…" she walked out of the bathroom and Lorelai followed her.

"Here is your choice of buttermilk, blueberry, and oatmeal pancakes drenched in maple syrup, just how you like them. And of course, two glasses of whole milk, a glass of orange juice, apple juice, and grape juice. There are also scrambled eggs and four pieces each of bacon, sausage, and ham. Oh, and a whole plate of hash browns. Take your pick."

"Where's the coffee?"

"Oh, haven't you heard? Pregnant women aren't supposed to drink coffee. They're supposed to drink milk and juice and plenty of water."

"But I see a cup there."

"Aw, well that's _your_ mommy's coffee. The closest to coffee you'll be for the next few months is when you see me drinking it."

Rory got back in bed and pulled one of the trays to her. Lorelai jumped on the other side of the bed and did the same.

"So what does the wittle bug want to eat today?" Lorelai teased using a baby voice.

"Oh no, not you too…"

"Me too? Who else knows you've been calling your kid a bug?"

"Now that I heard you mention it, I'm pretty sure Paris does." She took a large bite of the buttermilk pancakes.

"I am offended. You told Paris before you considered telling me?"

"I didn't tell Paris _anything_. I don't even know what she know or doesn't know or is just pretending to know, but she is Paris Geller, and just like she shanghaied me into going to the doctor, she probably shanghaied the doctor into telling her my diagnosis."

"Mmmm…" Lorelai chewed on her blueberry pancakes. "I love Sookie's blueberry pancakes! Here, drink your milk."

"Can't we call for some coffee?"

"No more coffee for you, Missy."

"So… you don't have anything else to say to me? No screaming, no guilt trips, nothing?"

"Nothing…"

"No _'you're throwing your life away'_ speeches? Nothing?"

"Nope, no speeches of the kind. I do, however, have a few questions who's answers might elicit a speech or two."

"I figured it was coming. Hit me with them."

"So how far along are you?"

"Thirteen weeks."

"And when did you find out?"

"At nine weeks…" She knew she was going to hear it with that one. Maybe not the first one, but this last one…

"Can I ask you a question I'm sure you don't want to answer?"

"If I say no, is that going to stop you?"

"Nope."

"Ask away."

"Why did it take you a month to tell anyone?"

She put her fork down and tried to find her answer.

"I don't know. I was ashamed."

"Why wait that long to reach out to anyone? I mean, I saw you last night, kid. I can't believe you kept that to yourself for that long."

Rory brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She returned Lorelai's gaze after a moment.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

"Oh, kid… come here." She wrapped her arms around her daughter and kissed the top of her head. "You have nothing to apologize for. You know… shit happens sometimes, and now you have a bug that you're going to have to take care of, but I honestly believe that everything is going to turn out okay."

"Really? You think so?"

"Yes, I do."

"Did Grandma say anything?"

"She was… remarkably supportive. But you know, she is Emily Gilmore, so who knows how she's going to be reacting to the news today. But whatever happens and whatever they might say, don't let that influence your decisions."

"Grandpa is going to be really disappointed," noted Rory.

"I think you should wait and see what his reaction is before coming to any conclusions," Lorelai said simply.

"I think he's going to be very upset with me."

"Hey, was telling me as bad as you thought it would be?"

"Well, no…"

"There you go then. Your grandfather might surprise you. That, and I have it on good authority that the Gilmore's and the Huntzberger's were looking forward to a baby with his blond hair and your blue eyes."

"What do you think Logan's going to say?"

"I wish I could tell you, hon. I think you two need to sort out your feelings for each other before you make any decisions. But you need to tell him soon."

"I know." She looked down at her hands. "Honor is going to be getting me his phone number in London. I guess as soon as I have any info on him, I'll figure out what to do."

They started eating again, moving trays from the table to the bed, switching plates and sharing the ham. They lied back on the bed as soon as they were done.

"I don't think I can move," said Lorelai.

"I didn't know I was that hungry. It's probably because I didn't have any dinner last night."

"Hey, Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"You excited yet?"

The corners of her lips curled up. In everything, she hadn't had the time to think about it in that way. Hadn't let herself experience that feeling.

"I don't know… I haven't given it much thought. I've been freaking out all this time. I mean, I guess if I don't think about how my relationship with Logan is right now, or how I'm going to manage to support myself and a baby until after graduation, or just dealing with school and finals on my due date… yeah, I guess I am."

Lorelai smiled back at her.

"You and I, we need to celebrate." She got up from the bed and pulled out the duffle bag with Rory's things. "Hurry up and hit the shower and get dressed."

"What are we doing?"

"We are going to go shopping."

"But that's a waste. I'm not going to be fitting into regular clothes soon. I'm going to look like a stuffed burrito."

"But that's the idea. Your clothes don't fit you anymore. Your jeans are giving you a muffin top."

"I do _not_ have muffin top!"

"You are going to need maternity clothes. Lots and lots of nice dresses and shirts so you can feel pretty all the time and not like a stuffed burrito, because let's face it, you will look like a stuffed burrito soon. You already look like you've eaten one too many stuffed burritos."

"I do _not_ appreciate the fat jokes!"

"If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck. Hurry up and get ready, I'll be right back. Ha! You're also going to be walking like a duck soon!"

* * *

Richard paced his study, still in his silk robe. Emily was lying on the lounge dramatically, also in her night gown.

"There has to be something we can do to help Rory. Think, Emily, think…"

"I'm thinking, Richard, it's just that nothing is coming to mind right now."

"I think we should discuss this with Mitchum and Shira. I'm sure Mitchum will understand the situation and send for Logan immediately."

"But what if they still aren't happy with the match? That might make that keep him away longer."

"I don't think that will be a problem. Mitchum never thought Rory wasn't good enough for his family, and apparently Shira has also changed her mind about Rory since she joined the DAR and noticed all of her work there. Besides, it's the boy's obligation. His family has to understand that."

"But Richard, they're no longer together! Rory hasn't even had the chance to tell him. She wants to be the one to tell him, that's the reason she broke down yesterday."

"He will come back immediately and marry her…"

"I think we should talk to Lorelai about this."

"Do you, really? Need I remind you how Lorelai acted when _she_ was pregnant?"

"Rory is different than Lorelai."

"Precisely. And I don't want to know about the humiliation of that dear child when people start gossiping on how her boyfriend left her pregnant. If the boy needs to be in London for a year, let him be in London for a year. But let it be next year! Rory needs him now!"

"I just… Richard I don't want us to make the same mistakes we made with Lorelai."

His face changed when she said that. He sat next to his wife without saying anything for a moment.

"Do you think we acted badly towards Lorelai?"

"No… but it wasn't what she needed or what she wanted. In the end we pushed her so far away from us that she stayed away for fifteen years. Maybe our plan is perfect for Rory and just what she needs, but we can't just decide that ourselves. We need to talk to Lorelai and find out what is the best course of action."

Richard thought again for a second. "How far along is she?"

"I don't know."

"I just don't want a scandal on our hands. Lorelai might have been able to handle it, but I don't think Rory could, she's not used to those things. We also have to think of her career after she graduates."

"She's afraid that we'll hate her, you know… it just broke my heart yesterday…"

"Don't think about that anymore. We'll find a solution to it all. Call Lorelai and Rory. Tell them to come to dinner tonight. We will talk about it then and come up with something. We need to act quickly, before she starts showing. Come, let's go get dressed."

* * *

They were in the dressing room for A Pea In The Pod in New York City. "I think this dress makes me look fat. Does the dress make me look fat?"

"Pregnancy makes you look fat. Don't blame it on the dress. Here, try these on too." She handed Rory a bunch of dresses and tops. She waited for Rory to come out again. "Now that, that dress makes you look fat. Go back in and try the polka dot dress."

"The polka dot dress is going to make me look fat."

"We've been here before," chimed Lorelai.

She walked out in the polka dot dress.

"Aw, see, it makes you look cute. We're taking that one. Try some of the tops now."

"Some of these look too big on me still. You don't think it's too early to start buying all these maternity clothes?"

"So you can have a clothing crisis like the one on 1997, where all of a sudden you wake up one day and none of your clothes fits and you have _nothing_ to wear, not even to go out and buy any? No, it's not too soon. Besides you're underestimating what a good wardrobe does to your mood."

"I still can't believe we traveled sixty miles for this."

"Again, you're underestimating a new wardrobe. We _needed_ to travel those sixty miles for you to buy all the pretty clothes."

Rory walks out of the dressing room again. "Now this shirt just makes me look pregnant."

"The baby growing inside you makes you look pregnant. The shirt makes you look pretty pregnant." Her cell phone rang. Oh, jolly, it was her mother. "Hi mom."

"Hello Lorelai. How is Rory feeling today?"

"She's doing really good, actually."

"What's that noise? Where are you?"

"We're out shopping."

"She's feeling _that_ well?"

"Well her clothes are already kind of tight, and this way, she can start embracing everything that's going on sooner. I thought that it would make her feel a little better, and it is."

"Well, I'm glad she's feeling a lot better than yesterday. Listen, you father and I want you girls to come over for dinner tonight."

"Mom, it's Saturday…"

"So what? You can only see your mother on a Friday? We'll see you and Rory at 6:30, Lorelai."

"Wait! Mom! Rory and I are in New York right now, I'm not sure we'll be able to make it."

"Well I'm glad Rory's feeling that much better to go shopping in New York. I'm sure she'll still be well enough to come and have dinner at her grandparents tonight. Give Rory a hug and a kiss for me. We'll see you two tonight."

"Agh!"

"What happened?"

"Your grandparents just shanghaied us into dinner tonight."

Rory's face fell.

"Stop worrying about it. You're going to have to get it over with the Gilmore's at some point. Might as well get it over with now before they've had time to concoct a plan. You ready now?"

"Yes." She had a big stack of clothes in her arms.

"Is that it?"

"No, this is the no pile. The yes pile is in the dressing room still."

Lorelai peeked into the dressing room, where three times the amount of clothes was sitting their waiting.

"Good grief, we're buying every item in the store. Let me look at the no pile and see what you should throw in to the yes pile." She searched through it and pulled out two dresses and a top to go into the yes pile. They handed the rest to one of the associates there and walked into the dressing room to check what she was taking. "You're not forgetting to buy pajamas and underwear and that kind of stuff, are you?"

"No, the lady in the counter already has them."

"And you have different styles and colors, and a few sets to last you, right?"

"I got enough to replace my current wardrobe, yes."

They went to the counter for the saleslady to ring them up. She was given her total and was left with her mouth open.

"Oh my God! It's expensive to have a baby!" She decided to pull the black card from her wallet and handed it over to the saleslady. The one that read _Lorelai L Gilmore-Huntzberger_.

"Nice card. Where'd you get it?"

"Oh, Logan signed me up for it."

"Okay Mrs. Huntzberger, I'm going to need you sign at the bottom. Can you give me the address where you'd like to be receiving information on our sales and magazines?"

Rory gave them the address to her and Logan's apartment in New Haven. They walked out of the store with their arms full of bags and decided to drop them off in the car before they continued shopping for another while.

"So, _Mrs. Huntzberger_, is it? You're back at your previous New Haven address?"

"Oh, that. I forgot to tell you. When I talked to Logan the other day he told me that he extended the lease and paid for the year. He wanted me stay there, said he wouldn't bother me. He arranged for everything in the apartment to be taken care of. Even the driver."

"Wow… he's still in love with you."

"Yeah…"

"You're one lucky lady _Mrs. Huntzberger_."

"Stop that!"

"What's wrong _Mrs. Huntzberger_? Don't you like being called _Mrs. Huntzberger_?"

"That was a mistake on the credit card company's part. Logan opened the account for me and they assumed…"

"Well you know what they say about people that assume, _Mrs. Huntzberger_."

"Mom, stop it!"

"Oh, a Gap! Come on, I need some jeans."

They walked into the store and while Lorelai went straight to her section, Rory kind of just looked around. None of these clothes would fit her, so it was pointless for her to even browse. Something caught her eye and she went to the other end of the store. She had to smile when she was the tiny little T-shirts and socks. She started browsing, picking up a few things here and there, some blue, some pink, and some yellow. She didn't know what she was having yet, but she felt the need to buy these little outfits that were only appropriate for either a baby boy or a baby girl.

When Lorelai was ready to pay, she looked around for Rory. She saw her in the baby section and walked over to her.

"You know, they also have a few cute maternity things here if you want to check them out."

"Nah, I found what I wanted. Besides, I bought enough clothes for myself."

"So is the excitement finally creeping up on you?"

"Yeah, I think so." She smiled and looked at the items she was carrying. "Yeah, it's starting to look exciting for me. Hey mom, maybe after this we can hit a baby store and start checking out the baby gear."

"Yeah, we can do that." After seeing her daughter so broken up about everything the night before, she was happy to see her being excited. She must have gone through hell keeping it all in to herself for as long as she did. The guilt that she was sure Rory subjected herself to, not to mention that things with Logan weren't doing well. She wanted to maintain Rory positive.

"Hey, you know what? How about I just go to dinner with my parents. You can stay home and rest."

"Really?" She looked relieved when she asked.

"Yeah. Besides, I want to have a little chat with them before Luke and I leave for our honeymoon."

She knew what she wanted to tell her parents. Her mother's reaction the night before had surprised her, but she also didn't want Rory to be unpleasantly surprised while she was away. If it meant that she had to have dinner with her parents alone, then she was doing it.

* * *

Emily opened the door. Only Lorelai was standing on the other side.

"Where's Rory?"

"Hello to you too, mom." They walked to the living room. "Rory's home resting with her feet up."

"But your father and I wanted to speak to both of you."

"I'm sure you did. But _I_ wanted to talk to you two before you spoke to Rory."

Richard walked into the room. "Hello Lorelai. Where's Rory?"

"She's home resting. I wanted to talk to you two before you talked to Rory."

"Good. I actually wanted to speak with you too. Let's get right on to business. What are Rory's plans as of right now? I understand she and Logan have broken up, but I think it's in both their best interest and the baby that they try to work out their differences."

"Well, that is the plan…"

"I think that maybe a meeting with the Huntzbergers would be the next course of action."

"Well Dad, I think we should just let Rory and Logan handle this."

"But Logan isn't even in the country."

"And?"

"And Logan isn't in the country because his father sent him to work in another country. He needs to come back and take care of his responsibilities. They should marry before the baby comes. I'm going to call my lawyer and ask him to help us with the pre-nuptial agreement."

"Dad, I think you're getting a little too ahead of yourself."

"My granddaughter is pregnant. And while it is not the ideal situation, it has a remedy that I am sure both families can be pleased with. I will not allow for Rory to have to go through the humiliation of being abandoned while pregnant when neither family wants that for them."

"I'm not sure I can follow what you want to impose."

"Impose? Well if they didn't want their families imposing…"

"Rory is now twenty one years old dad. Not sixteen, or even eighteen. She's a woman in her last year of college. Logan is an Ivy League educated, twenty three year old, who is independently wealthy, regardless of what hold his family has on him. They are both consenting adults that got themselves into something that a lot of couples that are in love like them get into. It's not the end of the world, much less of their futures. I guess what I am trying to say dad, is that they shouldn't feel cornered into doing something that they might choose to do on their own."

"Speak again."

"Those kids love each other. They should sort out their problems on their own, not because they have to, but because they want to. And as far as what I know, they both want to, it's just that the timing has been bad and now Logan is in London. That baby of theirs is just a product of that love, not a mistake."

"But the biggest problem remains the same. Logan is still in London. If I speak to Mitchum about it, he will allow Logan to come back, at least until his child is born."

"Rory wants to be the one to tell Logan. In fact, she didn't want this to get out. She wanted him to be the first to know. Honor is going to get Logan's information for Rory. She will get in touch with him, and they can go from there."

"Are you sure they can work things out by themselves?" asked Emily.

"Mom, you've seen those two. They love each other. They've just let certain things get in the way."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because he's thought of her despite not being here." She thought for a second before disclosing information. "Logan has done certain things to take care of Rory."

"Like what?" asked Emily.

"Apparently, he's left her their apartment all paid for the year, with maid, maintenance and a driver."

"What?" Emily and Richard were both left surprised.

"Yeah, he said that he understood she didn't want to talk to him, so he wouldn't be bothering her, but that he felt better knowing she was taken care of."

"But Rory doesn't need to be 'taken care of' financially," said Richard. "Between us and her father, Rory doesn't need for anything."

"Exactly dad, that's the point. He knows she doesn't need it, but he wants to do it anyway, at least until she's done with school. I think that he's still holding out hope."

"What exactly happened between those two?" asked Richard.

"It doesn't matter at this point because Rory is willing to put it all behind them. She just needs to talk to him, and everything will be alright between those two."

"So I'll ask again," said Richard. "What is Rory's plan?"

"She's waiting for Honor to get back to her, and she will get in contact with Logan, and they will go from there. There's not much more to the plan."

The maid walked in. "Mrs. Gilmore, dinner is served." They walked to the dinner table and sat down.

"What about school? Is Rory going to be able to continue, or is she going to have to take more time off?"

"She doesn't want to take any more time off. She's due mid December, she'll probably be on break then."

"Oh Richard, did you hear that? We'll be having a Christmas baby!" said Emily excited.

"I don't think she's planned as far ahead into the second semester and child care, but that will come at it's time. Right now I just want her to relax. She's got enough on her plate right now. She's made herself sick with worry about Logan and what you two would think."

"She has?" asked Richard worriedly.

"She said we would hate her," answered Emily in a low voice, her thoughts going to the night before.

Richard put his fork down and thought seriously. "Now that is nonsense," he answered sincerely.

"She thought you would be disappointed," said Lorelai.

Richard thought for a second. "Well I only have an answer to that. You girls should come over on Monday afternoon. We'll have a barbeque and you and your mother can finish going through those long lists of last minute wedding preparations."

Lorelai smiled. She knew why he was doing this, and she loved that they loved her daughter so much. Normally, she would be asking for a lobotomy if she ever willingly agreed to have dinner with her parents alone, but dinner twice in less than a week, when she'd end up seeing them a total of five times in that short time period. She would be asking to be institutionalized. But her parents had lately been taking a turn for the better. They were still Emily and Richard Gilmore, but a change was a change. And this was her daughter they were trying to put at ease.

"We'll be here."


	7. From London, With Love

**AN: I just wanted to respond to Rainey's question. There will be no whoring from anyone here, lol.**

**I know you've all been waiting for some Logan and RL interaction. I just want you to know that it's taken this long for a reason. I hope you're all happy with this chapter since it is one of the one's that I've most enjoyed writting. Trust me... and enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 7 – From London, With Love**

_"I have decided to leave tomorrow afternoon for London."_

_"Why so soon? I would have thought that this accident of yours gave you the perfect excuse to stay through the summer."_

_"I just don't have anything here that's keeping me from going as it was scheduled."_

_"What about your physical therapy? You need that for at least three months."_

_"I'm sure I can find a perfectly qualified physical therapist in London."_

_"Are you sure you want to go now?"_

_"I want to leave as soon as possible. Tomorrow is the soonest I can leave, so I choose to leave then."_

_Mitchum eyed his soon curiously. He ended up nodding and accepting his half assed answer for now._

_"Okay then. I'll call right now and arrange the jet for you. I'll have to book you a hotel suite since I thought you'd be here for at least three more months. The Crowne Plaza is fine right?"_

_"Whatever is closest."_

_"Will Rory be accompanying you?"_

_"No."_

_Mitchum stopped what he was doing and looked his son straight in the eye. He straightened himself in the leather chair of his study at home. How should I go about this, he wondered._

_"Your mother and I didn't see Rory today at your graduation. I hope she's okay."_

_"She's fine. You know, I need to get going now. Finish packing." He extended his hand to his father. "I trust I'll hear from you soon. Goodbye dad."_

_Mitchum shook his hand. "Goodbye son." He saw him start getting up and limping towards the door. He decided to broach the subject and not let his son leave just yet."_

_"You know, I talked to Robert and he told me you were retaining Frank for another year."_

_Logan stopped at the door. He didn't turn to face his father. "Is that a problem? You and mom have your own drivers. I didn't think you'd need Frank."_

_"No, no, that' fine. You know, Robert also mentioned that you were keeping the New Haven apartment for another year, and that you asked to forward all of the bills to him."_

_Logan tensed up and turned finally. "I've paid for it with my own money, dad. I don't see how that concerns you. I've even arranged for my credit cards to be paid through my own fund."_

_"No, son, I'm not reproaching you at all. It's good that you're making sure Rory is going to be alright while you're away."_

_"Rory doesn't need your or my money."_

_"Oh, believe me, I know she doesn't. But the fact that you've taken care of things for the time that you will be away impresses me. In fact, I'm happy to see this change in you. You've become responsible, and I know Rory has had a hand in that. Tell her your mother and I said hello."_

_"I will. I'll talk to you soon." He reached the door knob, but he stopped himself before turning it. "Dad?"_

_"Yes, Logan."_

_"Watch out for her for me, will you? Make sure she doesn't need anything."_

_Mitchum could see then how painful it was for Logan to leave Rory. "I will son. Have a safe trip."_

He dropped his crutches to the side of the sofa and let out a sigh and closed his eyes, trying to de-stress for a minute. His thoughts eventually led him elsewhere. He had left home a month ago. A month ago was the last time he had seen her. She had looked so beautiful reading intensely in that courtyard bench. He observed her for sometime before he made up his mind to go speak to her. He wanted to drink in as much a sight of her as possible. It was going to be the last time he would see her in maybe a year, maybe more years. It felt too surreal to know that would be his last memory of her.

He had been avoiding everyone from back home for a full month. He had found an apartment a week after he moved, but had yet to give even his secretary his home information, much less his family. They only number they could try to contact him at was his office number, and even then, he wouldn't take their calls, not even Honor's. He always called his father back, but only when it was specifically because of business, and made sure the calls were always short enough. Maura, his secretary, had given him many threatening messages left by his family, one in which Mitchum threatened him if he did not get himself a cell phone soon and called his family to report himself.

His father knew he was fine because they had to speak ever so often, so they knew he was still alive, but not much more than that. Truth was, he was miserable, but he immersed himself in his work. He was only ever away from his office when he went to therapy and when he came home to sleep. Keeping busy was the only way his stay in London became bearable. He had avoided making friends in the time he had been there, but it wasn't like he could really go out anyways, with his injuries and the workload he took on.

He opened his eyes again and looked around the room. He noticed a red light blinking on his home phone. _Oh, shit_, he thought. Was that a message? But no one had his phone number. Who could it be? Maybe it was a telemarketing call. He thought about retrieving the message for a second, afraid of what he might hear. Before he could stop himself, he pressed the play button. He winced when the familiar voice came on.

_"Logan, this is Honor. What's going on with you, baby brother? I've been trying to reach you at your office and you haven't called me back. If this is in fact your number, give me a call at home. Please! I have to talk to you and it is very urgent."_

No, no, no! This couldn't be happening? Maybe if he didn't return her call she'd get the idea that that wasn't his number she had dialed. _How_ in the world had she gotten that number? He decided to ignore the call when another familiar voice came on.

_"Logan, this is your father. I need you to call me as soon as you get this message. It's an important family matter that needs to be discussed between you and I immediately. It cannot wait around. Don't make me go to London to speak to you about it!"_

No, he shouldn't call back. He would be walking into a death trap. He had specifically set everything up here so they didn't have much of a chance to track him from back home. Not even Robert, his accountant, had his contact information besides his office number, and even then, he always called Robert to make sure everything was fine. So how could they have gotten the number? It didn't matter in any case. He wouldn't be calling back.

* * *

Mitchum angrily walked into Richard's office, not waiting for the secretary to announce him. 

"Sir, I'm sorry but you can't walk in like that."

"I can walk in any way I want! And you," he turned to Richard. "You should have said something! Why hasn't our family been informed?"

Richard excused his secretary. "Kate, it's alright. Please hold any calls or other visitors."

"Sure Mr. Gilmore," and she walked out.

"What on earth are you talking about Mitchum?"

"You now what I'm talking about!"

"Humor me."

"Shira saw Rory shopping in town the other day, and while she wasn't able to catch up to her, she noticed that Rory looked… how should I put this… to be in a rather delicate condition. I went to see Rory after that to make sure she was alright, and while she wasn't home at that time, the doorman congratulated me. I spoke to my daughter and she doesn't know what's going on, and none of us have been able to get in touch with Logan! Care to elaborate?"

"Really, you can't get in touch with Logan?" Richard asked sarcastically. "Well my granddaughter has had the same problem for about a month now."

"Don't play games with me Richard! The accountant also showed me a credit card statement for one of Rory and Logan's accounts and it showed her shopping at maternity stores and baby boutiques!"

"Well I never!" Huffed Richard with indignation. "The Hayden accountant and my accountant take care of all of Rory's expenses! There is no _need_ for you to be looking at where she's been shopping! And there is no need for you to be paying for it!"

"That is not my point!" Mitchum screamed back. "My point is that our family is out of the loop on an important matter and I don't like that!"

"Well it's all your son's fault! Rory has been trying to get in touch with him for some time now! Your daughter was supposed to be getting her his information and hasn't! Now, I was asked to not butt in, but it looks to me that that son of yours is avoiding his responsibilities!"

"My son is avoiding nothing of the kind! My son doesn't even know what's going on, it seems!"

"Well then why hasn't Rory been able to get in touch with him?"

"Because we've barely been able to get in touch with him! Not even his secretary knows where to contact him after office hours!"

"Well that's not my problem! Those two kids need to sit down and talk! But how can they do that when it was you that sent your son away to work in another continent!"

"You listen to me! My family is not going to stand this! We will not be kept away from that baby!"

"You listen to me!" Returned Richard. "My granddaughter will _not_ be subjected to any more humiliations by your family! She doesn't need you! And I will not allow her to fall into a scandal! That son of yours better be making it back to the States to make good of what he's done to my granddaughter! Either you drag him back to Connecticut, or I'll go to London and drag him back myself!"

"Fine!" Agreed Mitchum. "We'll have dinner. Monday night at our house. Your family and mine. The kids can talk then."

"Fine. We'll see you Monday night. Have a good day." Richard extended his hand, and Mitchum shook it.

"Thank you, you too Richard. Say hello to Emily for me."

* * *

"Whoa, you can really tell you're pregnant," Paris noted as they were getting out of Rory's car. They were going out to eat Chinese. "If you're this big now, you're going to be as big as a house by the time school starts." 

"Yeah, well, I guess there's no hiding it anymore."

"Please, there was no hiding probably from the minute you turned out pregnant. I should have guessed it from the beginning."

"But didn't you guess it anyway?"

"No, I called Dr. Ravie's office and they told me."

Rory laughed. "Yeah, I figured as much."

They walked into the restaurant and took a seat in their usual table. Rory took her napkin and placed it on her lap and belly. She smoothed it over her growing belly, giving her baby a little pat. They ordered their usual and they were served quickly

"So how are things at the apartment?"

"They're good. I finally convinced Doyle to re-paint. I told him we should take advantage of the fact that you weren't there now because the fumes were bad for you, and it needed to be done before you came back to the apartment."

"Well at least you got that out of him."

"Yeah, that mint green was starting to get me depressed. So, how's the apartment?"

"Lonely… it's okay I guess. It's a nice apartment."

"If you're lonely there, why don't you move back in with us? Besides, Doyle is going to be away on business this year a lot."

"You don't want a screaming baby in the middle of the night on your last semester, Paris. Besides, there isn't any room there for a baby."

"We can make room. How much room does a little person like that need. Just think about it."

"Thanks."

"So nothing from Logan yet?"

"Nothing. Honor called me the other day and told me that she might have found a number, but she's not sure. She's going to call me back as soon as she can get a hold of him."

"Well you're already starting to show. And I mean _really_ show."

"I thought I would have told him by now. I didn't think it would be this hard to get in touch with him."

"Have you considered telling Honor?"

"No, I want him to hear it from me. Besides, I don't really want it getting out."

"Rory, come on. It's out already."

"You know what I mean."

"And you know what I mean."

"I guess I'm going to have to talk to my mom and my grandparents about it."

"Well I think you should let them get involved. Maybe that way things will start happening."

"I don't know. It's going to be kind of awkward and embarrassing."

"More awkward and embarrassing than telling Logan, _'Hi Logan, nice to see you again after a year. We have a child together now. Send the child support to this address'_?"

"Well, I guess I have no other choice, do I?"

* * *

The news room was still pretty dead. He was usually one of the first to arrive, and was there before his secretary. Logan walked into his office and turned the light on. When he did his chair turned. 

"Why hello, son," greeted Mitchum. "Nice to see you."

Logan looked at his father confused. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Well son, I was worried so I came to see how you were doing?"

"But I just sent you the reports you asked me for. The newspaper is doing great. I don't understand why you came." He placed his portfolio down next to his desk.

"You are right, the newspaper is doing great. But I'm not here to see the newspaper. I'm here to see you."

"What's going on?"

"I want to ask you the same question, what's going on Logan? You haven't returned anybody's calls. You only leave me messages with updates to my messages. Your mother and sister are worried sick about you, and I know Rory's been trying to get in touch with you. We've even tried Colin and Finn, but not even they've been able to hear back from you. You disconnected your cell phone and haven't gotten a new one since you moved here. So I repeat myself, what's going on Logan."

He looked up at the mention of Rory's name, but tried to play it off.

"I've been doing exactly what you wanted me to do. You asked me to take care of London, and I'm taking care of London."

"Yes, but London doesn't need you to work from 4am to midnight. I mean look at you. You've lost a ton of weight and you've only been here for a month. Do you ever stop to eat? You look sick."

Logan got defensive. "I don't understand how my work hours are affecting you. I am doing exactly what you've asked me to do. Nothing more, nothing less. You wanted me to become responsible for the family business, and I am slowly doing that. You asked me to concentrate on this, and this alone, and that is what I'm doing. You opposed my friendships, so I've made sure they haven't gotten in the way of my work, so I can't say I appreciate you trying to butt in on how I'm managing my time here in London."

Mitchum looked at his soon up and down and wondered how he should handle Logan. Of all the things he expected from his son out of this year in London, twenty hour work days were not it. He didn't know what to make out of the man that was standing before him. It definitely wasn't his son he was looking at. He tried a different approach.

"It's Sunday, Logan. Let's get out of here. We can either go to church or a bar. Take your pick."

"I have to work, dad. I'm not here to take Sunday's off. I'd rather give my staff that time off since they have people to go home to on the weekends."

It was going to be harder than he thought. Since when had his son become so hard and cold. It seemed now that it was almost impossible to get through to him. It wasn't what he had wanted for his son to get out of this experience in London. He rose from the chair and walked towards his son.

"Logan, let's go home so you can pack."

"Pack what? I'm not going anywhere."

"There is an important dinner party at the house on Monday, and I need you to be there."

"I'm not going anywhere dad. You said London for a year, and I'm in London for a year."

"Are you serious?"

"Like a heart attack." Logan sat at his desk and turned his computer on and got to work.

"Logan, I'm not playing games here. I need you to pack so you can leave with me in a few hours."

"Well I'm afraid I can't come with you."

"Listen Logan, I'm not leaving this office without you, so you better get your ass downstairs and into the car so you can go and pack or not pack, however you prefer. But you're coming back with me, whether you like it or not."

Just then, Logan's office phone went off. "Good morning Maura. Yes, I'm checking those right now. Yes, they're complete, thank you. Aha… yeah… okay… hang on a second… okay, go… got it. Anything else? Okay then, enjoy your day off. I'll be calling Jerry right now. Goodbye."

And the second he hung up with Maura, he was already on the line with Jerry. Mitchum had no other choice but to sit down and wait for his son to finish, since he was obviously not able to threaten him back into Connecticut.

* * *

"How did I let my parents shanghai us into dinner at the Huntzbergers? I mean, what was I thinking when I said, oh, don't worry Rory, they're not going to get involved. And here we are, and they're involved!" 

"It's okay mom. I was actually going to be talking to Grandma and Grandpa about it. Maybe not to have dinner at the Huntzbergers, but to do something about it."

"I'm sorry kid."

"Hey, if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Come on lets get it over with."

They got out of the car and walked towards the door. They didn't knock immediately.

"You're looking really pretty today," noted Lorelai.

"Thanks. Grandma sent me this dress and told me to put it on, so I just obeyed." She was wearing a cute black silk maternity cocktail dress with spaghetti straps and a low cut sweetheart neckline that accentuated her new curves. They rang the doorbell and were surprised when Shira opened the door.

"Rory!" she greeted her excitedly with a hug and a kiss in the cheek. "Don't you just look absolutely darling! Hello Lorelai, please, come in."

They walked towards the living room where Mitchum, Elias and the Gilmore's were waiting for them. Rory was greeted eagerly, a big difference to just a year before. She sat next to Lorelai, across from Shira. They made small talk until dinner time came. Then both Shira and Mitchum started looking at their watch, as if they were waiting for something. Shira decided to play it off and the men excused themselves to the library for a moment.

"So, Rory dear, how have you really been feeling?"

Rory understood what context Shira meant it in and she looked around at her grandmother before answering.

"Alright I guess."

"I hope you weren't too sick at first."

"Well, maybe a little. But it's gotten better now. I mean, it still hits me sometimes, but not like before."

"Emily tells me we'll be having a Christmas baby."

"Well it won't exactly be Christmas. More like a finals baby. As soon as school is back in session, I'll be talking to my professors and asking them if I could please take my finals sooner."

"Well if you have any trouble with them, just let us know and I'm sure Mitchum can do something about that for you. What date did they give you?"

"December 15th, but they told me anywhere two weeks before that, or two weeks after is fair game."

Time kept passing by and Shira looked up at the clock. The men came out of the library and walked towards them.

"Maria, we're going to be starting dinner now," said Shira.

They all walked towards the dinning room, the air suddenly becoming tense between the adults. Rory walked to her grandfather and asked him quietly.

"Everything alright, Grandpa?"

"Everything is fine dear."

They sat at the table and started dinner. Things had evidently tensed up, but they tried their best to keep them light for Rory's sake. Well into the main course, they heard the front door open and close loudly. Everyone in the table looked up. Logan's figure could be seen walking by the dinning room and up the stairs.

"Logan!" said his father.

He stopped dead on his tracks and turned to walk towards them. Once in full view of the dinning table, he noticed Rory and his face fell. He tried to regain his composure quickly.

"How nice of you to finally make it, son. Why don't you sit down with us?"

"I'm leaving for London now. Excuse me." He turned away and started walking.

"Stop it Logan, you knew about this and chose to be this late. Stop fooling around and come and join us."

"I flew to join you for a business dinner, which this is clearly not. I'll leave you and mom to your guests. If I leave any later, I won't be making a meeting I had scheduled for tomorrow morning."

"This is still business. Personal business, but it needs to be taken care of all the same."

Rory finally understood what this was about. Mitchum had apparently dragged Logan back so they could talk. But it was obvious Logan didn't want to be close to her, and the knowledge of that pained her. She looked at his face. It was thinner and pale. He had obviously lost weight and he looked tired.

"Goodnight everyone, enjoy your dinner." Logan started walking away again.

Mitchum got up from his seat and started walking after Logan. They stopped in the hallway and were arguing in hushed voices. She heard her name mentioned by Mitchum. She could sense the blood in her face pooling at her feet and her arms started feeling heavy and cold. She lowered her head into her right hand, obviously upset by everything happening before her.

"Rory, are you okay dear? Maria bring Rory some iced water," ordered Shira.

Rory took a deep breath as her mother rubbed her back. She looked up and decidedly stood up and walked towards the hallway with her purse in hand.

"Listen Logan, I am trying my hardest here to not get involved in your personal life, but you're making it hard for everyone in there."

"Logan," Rory interrupted. "Could I speak to you for a second?"

Mitchum could see the desperate look in Rory's eyes. Here she was, standing before his son, giving it all away.

"You know what," he told both of them. "I just can't do this right now." He turned around and left, overwhelmed by everything that was happening.

Lorelai went to Rory, wanted to make sure she was okay. She was ash white and just looked towards the door in the direction Logan had left. After a moment she walked after him. Richard stopped Lorelai from walking after Rory.

She reached him just as he was getting into his car.

"Logan, stop! I have something I need to tell you."

"Let's not do this now Rory. I can't do this now. I promised I'd stay away from you just like you asked me to! Don't do this to me now! You have no idea what being away from you has done to me! I'm trying to get myself together, and now just because you say so, you want to finally talk to me! I can't do this Rory!" He got into his car and drove off.

Rory stood out there, floored at his reaction. It wasn't at all what she had expected. She felt a tiny flutter inside of her and her hand instinctively went to her abdomen. What was supposed to be a happy moment for her had turned sour. She looked down at herself and thought surely Logan had to have noticed. He had to have. No, this was not at all the reaction she had expected from him. She walked towards her car as fast as her legs could take her, tears streaming down her face. She got in her car and drove off.

* * *

He sat in the bar of Poor Man's Shoe nursing his second glass of scotch. Rory never left his thought the minute he saw her again. She looked so beautiful. She just… radiated. Maybe it was because he hadn't seen her in so long. God, he missed her. He wanted to feel the soft touch of her naked skin next to his, to just hold her near to him. To kiss her. He had told her that he couldn't even stop to talk to her, that it hurt too much. But it hurt more to hold back from just taking her in his arms then and kiss her. He wanted her near him more than ever, but it was awkward because he knew she didn't belong to him anymore. 

He felt a vibration in his coat pocket. It surprised him at first, then he remembered his dad handing it to him and warning, _'Don't you dare lose it, and don't you dare not answer it. At least while you're here'_. He took the phone out and saw that it was blocked. He knew it was probably from home. He answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Logan, it's your mother calling." She was clearly upset with him.

"What is it mom."

"Logan, you know your father and I don't like getting involved in your personal life…" He had to snicker when she said that. Yeah, right. "But what you did to Rory tonight! It has no excuse!"

"Mom, I'm going to repeat myself again. I can't do this right now. I don't want to talk about it with you, with dad, with anyone. End of story. You have anything else to say to me before I hang up?"

"Yes I do. If you don't go talk to that girl right now, you're going to be making the biggest mistake of your life. And it's going to be a mistake that you'll regret for the rest of your life. Don't you think I don't know why Rory broke things off with you. I found out. And she had every reason to not want to see you again after that. But that girl loves you and is willing to push all that aside. Now she has something important that she needs to talk to you about, and she's been trying to get in touch with you since the night before your accident…"

Logan cut his mom off. "You know what mom, don't think that you know everything that happened between Rory and I because you don't. You don't know the thinks she told me said night when you're claiming that she tried to talk to me. I tried to talk to her, and she refused to listen to me. So don't think that I believe for one minute that she's wanted to talk to me since that night, because she hasn't. In fact, she made it clear that night that she didn't want anything else to do with me. So I wouldn't go by what she told you."

"Rory didn't tell me anything! So don't you go on assuming where I get my information either, mister! And forget about the he-said-she-said. Put your damn pride aside and talk to her like the adult you should have become by now. Now I don't pretend to know everything that happened between you two, because that's not my problem, that's yours! And you two should work on that! If you don't go to her this instant, you're going to be making it my problem! And you don't want to make it my problem, Logan! So I suggest you fix this! Tonight!"

She hung up the phone. Hard. He put his phone away back in his pocket after looking at the time. It was past midnight and he was tired. He didn't want to go home to his parents' house after tonight's altercation. It was just too much to deal with. It was a shame that a man his age would dread going home to his parents. It was even sadder that he was going home to his parents. Truth was, he had been drinking and he was tired. He wondered if Rory was staying at the apartment. Probably not, since it was summer and she probably wanted to be close to her mom since she didn't spend much time with her this year. He decided to go and stay at the apartment until morning, and then leave for London early. He was too tired to leave tonight.

He unlocked the door to the apartment and turned on the light at the door. He looked towards the bed and was surprised to see Rory sleeping. The noise from the door and the light obviously disturbed her, but not enough to wake her up. He noticed that she kept the stove light on in the kitchen and one at the desk, getting some light from both corners of the apartment, but not bright enough to fill the whole apartment. He turned the door light off and took of his shoes so that he wouldn't disturb her. He started walking towards the couch but stopped dead on his tracks when he heard her suspire a few times. When her breathing evened out again, he continued walking.

He reached the couch and sat down slowly. His knee hurt from walking around so much. He was finally able to let go of the crutches most of the time, but the day had worn him out. He looked around the apartment and almost everything looked the same. There were a few little things here and there, but that was just Rory. They were the thinks he had missed when she left.

Rory. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. She just looked so beautiful with the light hitting her face, her loose curls from tonight framing her beauty. He carefully walked over to her, not wanting to wake her, disturb her. He wanted to continue enjoying the sight of her before him without interruptions. He knelt down in front of her and placed his arm on the bed, then rested his chin there. She had cried herself to sleep. He could see the traces of the un wiped tears in her face, her red eyes and nose. He had made her cry herself to sleep. He mentally kicked himself for it. He hadn't thought when those words he'd told her came out of his mouth.

Her right hand rested on top of her stomach under the covers. He sat on the edge of the bed gingerly and took he hand in his. He brought it close to his face and kissed it. He'd missed her touch for so long. He wanted nothing more than to wake her up with kisses and ask her to please forgive him, but he didn't for fear of her turning him away again and loosing the moment.

She suspired again and turned to sleep on her back instead of her left side. She took her hand away in her sleep and placed it on her stomach again, this time on top of the covers. He looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand and noticed a glass of water and a picture frame that wasn't there before. He picked it up but wasn't able to make anything out of it in that light. He got up from the bed with it and walked to the dressing room to grab some pajamas he's left there, and grabbed a pillow and a sheet. He would sleep on the couch and wait for her to wake up. He laid the pillow and sheet on the couch and walked into the bathroom.

After changing he went towards the sink where he'd laid the picture frame down and was surprised to see his toothbrush there, waiting for him to come back and use it. He opened he medicine cabinet and pulled the toothpaste out. He turned his toothbrush on and while he brushed his teeth he went through the medicine cabinet out of habit. He saw what looked to be a bottle of vitamins. He pulled the bottle out and looked at it dumbstruck. He turned it to read the label. _Prenatal Vitamins_. He rinsed his mouth and his toothbrush and placed it where it was before. _Why would Rory have prenatal vitamins?_ He wondered. He placed them back in the medicine cabinet along with the toothpaste and closed the mirror. He picked up a second picture frame she had sitting on top of the toilet and thought it was an odd place to put a picture frame. Now if he wasn't really able to make out the first picture he was able to make out this one.

_Lorelai L Gilmore, 21, F, 17wks_. It was dated from three days ago. He picked up the first frame and looked at it. There wasn't much to make out of, but that one was from about two months before. He walked out of the bathroom in a frenzy and started going through the drawers. His drawers were just as he'd left them, with the exception of a few that he'd left empty. On the top of one of those said drawers he found a layette. It was pink and tiny and looked so carefully picked out and laid there in the drawer. Like it belonged there. He went though her side of the closet and noticed how she'd taken up half of his empty closet space. They were clothes he hadn't seen her in before. Larger than what she's always worn before.

He felt his heart racing in his chest. His breathing felt constricted. He walked out to the bed and saw Rory lying in the same position he's left her in. Except now the blankets were pulled lower, and he could see how both her hands laid protectively over her swollen abdomen. He moved her hands away with his, wanting to touch her, to see if it felt real to him. She mumbled something in her sleep and hiccupped, obviously from her crying. She shifted and pushed his hand away to place hers back in place and turned towards her side again.

"Rory…" he tried to wake her. "Rory…" He tried touching her face to wake her, but she just brushed him away and only caused her to shift away from him again and towards the center of the bed. "Rory…" This time he tried shaking her shoulder gently. She moaned in her sleep and turned the other way, closer to her side of the bed than his, where he had found her sleeping. No, there would be no waking Rory up tonight. After upsetting her the way he did tonight, the least he could do was let her sleep. He looked towards the couch that was waiting for him and then back at their bed.

_Their bed_. With his side of the bed waiting for him. He raised the covers on and got in next to Rory. He had waited for that moment, just that moment, for so long. It was a moment he'd felt he'd lost forever. And here he was, recapturing it. The moment where he could put his arm around her as they laid in bed silently, their fingers intertwined. The moment that he could smell her hair before placing a kiss in the back of her neck and just hold her close to his chest. He spooned as close to her as it was physically possible, placing his hand on her growing belly. She didn't protest this time, and unconsciously molded her body to his. He felt her hand go to rest on top of his. "Rory…" he called out to her one last time. He didn't get a response. He laid his head on his pillow and fell asleep.


	8. South Carolina Baby

**AN: Okay, just a little warning. The rating has gone up in this chapter. I don't know if I'll be writting something like this again, because it doesn't come easy to me and it's the reason why it took me this long to finish it. In any case, I hope you're happy with it, and there's going to be more coming up soon.**

**To everyone that's reviewed, thank you! thank you! thank you! I love reading through them!**

* * *

**Chapter 8 – South Carolina Baby**

He woke up the next morning feeling rested. Compared to his new schedule, he knew he'd slept in, but it was something he needed to do and he took full advantage of being back in his bed. He remained still, not wanting to wake Rory before she wanted to be up. They were lying in bed in a tangle of limbs. At some point during the night Rory had turned to face him and was now lying on top of his chest, with an arm and a leg thrown over him. They had laughed about it numerous times, on how they would go to sleep in one position and sometimes ended up in a completely different side of the bed. She had him immobile, but he didn't mind because it gave him the chance to finally hold her in his arms.

She fidgeted in her sleep and he thought she was finally waking up, but she surprised him by jumping over him and rolling to other side of the bed. _His_ side of the bed. _So that's how that happens_, he thought. She continued sleeping soundly for another hour. It was another hour in which he relished having her with him, touching her, smelling her. He threw his arm over hers and shimmied one of his legs between hers. He liked how they fit perfectly when they spooned in bed. He couldn't keep himself from placing small, tender kisses on her neck between her shoulders. It was his favorite way of waking her up.

She began to stir. She tried moving but felt something heavy weighting her down. She didn't feel she had the energy to fight what was on top of her so she didn't really struggle to come free. She waited until she was more woken up. But the more awake she was, the more she realized what was going on. She recognized the warm feeling of his arms around her, the scent of his aftershave and the mold of his body behind her. For a while she thought she was still asleep and dreaming him next to her. She stayed in bed with her eyes closed, still half asleep, not really wanting to wake up from the warm familiar feeling wrapped around her.

Her thoughts drew her back to the night before. The look on Logan's face when she'd asked him to talk to her and he refused. She had been humiliated again, only this time it wasn't his parents that caused the sting, it was the father of her child. She couldn't help but feel rejected when he'd stood before her and asked her to let him be. The surge of emotions caused by the memory of everything made her dizzy, a cold chill engulfing her, and tears formed in her eyes. She tried to turn to her side and open her eyes as a soft sob escaped her lips. She was startled when she was unable to move very much and realized there was a body next to hers. She sat up in a jump which only caused her to get even dizzier than she already was. It only caused her to feel more confused when she started gagging. She scrambled to get up and make it to the bathroom.

Logan jumped up the minute she ran. The closest she made it to the bathroom was the dressing room doorway. Logan winced at the sight of Rory being sick. He followed her to the bathroom where he helped keep her hair back. She started crying, not even attempting to get up. She was too upset and confused over everything. She could feel her back being rubbed to comfort her.

He waked to the kitchen to get some large paper towels and a glass of water for Rory. He was grateful that they had hardwood floors throughout the apartment when he placed the paper towels where Rory had been sick. He placed the glass on the sink and helped Rory to her feet. He pulled their toothbrushes out and put the toothpaste on them, then handed her hers. They brushed their teeth in silence and Logan gave her the glass of water for her to drink after she rinsed.

He helped her to the bed and tucked her in. Then she began crying, each sob becoming stronger and louder. She turned herself to face the wall and gave Logan her back. He was speechless. He didn't know how to react to her reaction. His instinct told him to go hug and console her, but her body language was telling him to keep away.

He decided to listen to his heart and he lied next to her and drew her body towards his. She resisted a little at first, but eventually gave in. He tried talking to her and getting her to turn to him, but she refused to budge and only cried harder. He used however little strength he had after his accident and sat himself up on the bed and pulled her into his arms. It was scaring him, but he let her cry herself out. He just held her close and kissed her face until she eventually tired herself out.

"Rory, what's going on?"

She closed her eyes and for the first time returned his embrace. He hugged her back as tight as it was possible. He was able to move her into an almost sitting position by pulling her into his lap.

"God, you have no idea how I've missed you," he told her. He drank in the smell of her hair. He'd always loved the smell of her hair. It smelled of jasmines and her distinct, soft scent.

She held on to him as tightly as possible, wanting to feel his body as close to hers as possible. "Oh, God, Logan…"

_Logan_. To hear his name from her lips again…

"Rory, look at me." He sat her up on the bed facing him. More tears welled in her eyes and she looked down. He raised her chin with one hand, the other holding her hand. "What do you have to tell me?"

Her stomach dropped at the thought of telling him. Granted, it's what she'd been trying to do all along, but the fear finally sunk in. The fear that he would run the minute she told him. That he would tell her that he wasn't ready for _that_ amount of commitment. That he couldn't handle parenting at twenty four. Or worse, that he no longer wanted to continue their relationship.

"Logan, I… I…"

"What is it, Ace?" He knew what it was, but he wanted to hear it from her lips. He wanted to know how it felt to hear it come out of her lips.

"Logan, I'm pregnant." She paused. "We're going to have a baby."

She looked down and started crying again, but he took her face in his hands and brought her lips to his. He pulled her closer to him, submerging himself in the emotion of it all. He took her by surprise, but she relished the feeling of his lips on hers. How the tip of his tongue would trace her bottom lip before tangling in hers.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the sensations running through her body. She had wanted to feel his body close to hers for so long. To be held in the comfort of his embrace.

"Say it again." He asked of her.

"What?" she asked between kisses.

"Say it again… I want to hear you say it again."

She breathed the words out in between kisses. "We're having a baby…"

"We're what?" he prompted her again. He lowered his lips to the sensitive spot in her neck that she loved him nuzzling on. He traced kisses along her collar bone and down to the peak of her cleavage.

"We're having a baby… We're having a baby…" She repeated, in breathy whispers.

He moved up her neck and back to her lips, guiding her head down towards the pillow. His hand moved to the hem of her camisole and he raised it up to touch her warm, swollen abdomen. He trailed kisses from her lips down to where his hand rested. He pulled back to observe the sight before him. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen, the changes her body had gone through in such a short period of time. He tugged the camisole up higher and she took his cue and raised herself to help him remove it. He wanted to see all of her.

Their lips met again and she wasted no time in removing his t-shirt, managing to have it off in one swift movement. Her fingers started grazing the waistband of his boxers as his went to her pajama bottoms. She toyed with the idea of torturing him through the soft cloth instead of giving him immediately what he wanted, but he took matters into his own hands and his boxers were off in a blink of an eye. He removed her pajama bottoms, not wanting a single stitch of clothing on her. His hands began roaming the softness of her thighs before he urged her to part them. He spent the next half hour exploring her new body for the first time, enjoying the roundness it gave her, the swelling of her breasts, and how every touch elicited a new reaction from her that he'd never seen before. She was giving him the most erotic experience he'd ever had.

She wanted more of him. He was driving her crazy with his hands and mouth, but she was becoming more desperate with every touch and stroke. In the urgency of finding her release, she placed him at her entrance and pulled him into her. In one fluid move of his hips he met hers, moving slowly at first, both savoring the moment their bodies met as one again. She started thrusting her hips, needing more of him and he complied. As soon as he gave into her demands, her body began to tremble under him as her climax washed over her, her moans becoming louder as she peaked.

He slowed his movements until she came back from her release, only to start up at a faster, harder pace again causing her to climax once more. Except this time he didn't give her the chance to regain herself, letting her experience several climaxes confused into one. Her moans were echoed through the apartment and Logan was glad that for one, the walls were thick, and two, they only had one neighbor in the same floor and they were on the opposite end. He felt the need for his own release and his body let hers know. She took her queue, trying to continue concentrating on what she was feeling, but she made sure she helped him maximize his release.

He felt her hand circle him at the base and knew what she was doing to him. He wanted to feel her clenching around him as he came and he moved one of his hands down to play with her. They climaxed together, their bodies slippery with perspiration. He lied down on her side of the bed and pulled her close to his chest. They were both still breathing heavily. They remained still until they heard one another's breathing even out.

He heard Rory let out a sob. He became alarmed and looked down to her.

"Rory, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

She began laughing. Now that just did not compute for him.

"I'm sorry," she said, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She tried wiping them away, and she laughed when they kept falling. She let out a sigh followed by a giggle. "I'm sorry… I just… I think I really needed that."

She looked up at him and smiled. Her smile let him know that she really was okay, because she was also smiling with her eyes. He'd missed her looking at him that way, in a fun, sort of naughty kind of way, like only he knew he could read.

She eventually stopped giggling and sat up. She started looking around for her pajamas.

"What are you looking for?"

"My pajamas, I have to go pee."

He laughed at her attempt for modesty. She moved pillows and looked through the disarray of sheets and blankets. She found the top and since it went down to her hips, she decided to make her bathroom run in just that. She let out a yelp and ran back out.

"What's wrong now?"

"I forgot I didn't make it to the bathroom earlier," she said, evidently grossed out.

"Let me get that for you."

* * *

"No! Mo-om! This is wrong!" Emily and Lorelai had reached the 12th floor and Emily was trying to get her to come out of the elevator. Actually, she was trying to physically drag her out. They were hissing at each other in a mixture of a whisper and a scream, as to not alert the occupants of that floor.

"Lorelai! Aren't you worried about your daughter?"

"Not since she wasn't worried about how her mommy was going to get home after dinner with the Huntzbergers and the Gilmores, no."

"Stop fooling around. Now come on." She managed to pull her out of the elevator long enough that the doors closed.

Lorelai looked cornered now that the elevator had left her. She started walking after her mother. They reached the door and stood there quietly. Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest

"So, what are you waiting for?" asked Emily.

"What do you mean what am I waiting for? What are you waiting for?"

"Come on, knock!"

"I'm not knocking!"

"Well don't you want to find out if they're okay?"

"Mom, they're okay. George told us as much."

"George just told us that they were home!"

"Exactly! They're home. _They. Are. H-O-M-E_. A couple of horny kids that are in love with each other and haven't seen each other in about three months are _home_. _Their home_, mom. I'm sure they're okay. I'm sure they're all kinds of okay, great, wonderful, fantastic. If not _they_ wouldn't _be_ home."

"But don't you want to find out if they've talked already?"

"I'm sure once they get the crazy make up sex out of the way they'll get around to talking."

"Lorelai! Please!"

"What? What else do you think they're doing in there? We probably wouldn't be able to even smoke them out. Those two aren't leaving that apartment any time soon… What do you think you're doing?"

Emily put her ear against the door, hoping to hear a conversation.

"I wonder what they're saying?"

"They're probably working each other blue."

"Lorelai!"

"Well I doubt they're reading each other Dr. Seuss. Let's go, mom. Rory can call and tell us what transpired in there during the cigarette."

Emily put her ear back where she had previously placed it.

"Wait… I hear something… Oh my God!" she screamed, removing her ear from the door.

"What?"

"I think they did make up."

"Oh, eww! I didn't need to know that!"

'_Oh, God!'_

"Oh, no!" they said in unison. They ran towards the elevator and started frantically pushing the button to go down.

"I hope you're happy now," said Lorelai.

* * *

She sat propped up on the pillows, her feet extended in front of her, and she was snacking on cheddar cheese and crackers. Logan was busy starring at and feeling around her stomach. He kept bending his head down and kissing their baby. He placed his cheek on her belly and looked up at her.

"We should probably get up and take a shower," said Rory.

"That would probably be a good idea."

"Probably."

"Except that I didn't bring a change of clothes."

"You have your clothes here," she reminded him.

"Oh, yeah."

"Yeah. You probably don't want to conduct a business merger in them, but you'll be comfortable."

"I don't think I have any underwear, though."

"You have underwear here."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"How are you sure?"

"I'm sure cause I did laundry. You have underwear here."

"Maybe underwear, but I don't have my razor. I took my razor with me to London."

"Don't shave, then. I like the stubbles. Stubbles are sexy on you. Now come on, get up."

"Nooooooo." He held on tight to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Hey, your waist has grown. I used to be able to wrap you around with one arm, now I need both arms."

"Was that a fat joke? Cause I have a shit list full of names of people that like to tell fat jokes in front of me, and you might like to hear what's in store for them when I'm in labor."

"Ace?"

"What?"

He pressed his lips to hers, silencing her. He liked how he left her breathless with his kisses.

"I love you."

She looked into his eyes and saw just how heartfelt his words were. She kissed him back eagerly.

"I love you too."

"Come on, let's get you in the shower. How 'bout we get you all dolled up and we go to dinner somewhere nice?"

He helped her to her feet and her chemise fell over her belly. He noticed how round and pregnant she really looked. His hand moved to caress her baby bump again.

They walked to the bathroom and he got the water running while she took some towels out. He turned back to her and took the towels away from her and placed them on the toilet seat before turning her back against his chest. He made her pose in profile against the bathroom's full body mirror. He was standing behind her with his arms circling her belly. She placed her hands on top of his.

"Wow… you really are pregnant… I almost can't believe my eyes."

He really couldn't. Her body had changed so much over the last few months. It was no longer the body he had engraved in his mind. It was a new one that was accommodating a growing life inside it. His eyes danced as he tried to memorize this new image of her.

"Are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry for many things, Ace. But this," he rubbed her belly. "This I'm only sorry that I missed the beginning of."

"Logan I… I really wanted to tell you sooner…"

"Shh, Ace. It's okay." He placed a kiss on the side of her neck. He looked at her profile through the mirror again, then he turned her around to look at her in front of him. He laughed at himself for a second. "I mean… how could I miss this? It's so obvious."

"What do you mean?"

"How did I not see it last night? It's so obvious. I mean, of all people that should have noticed _this_, it should have been me."

He couldn't keep himself from staring in amazement. He removed her top, leaving her completely naked. His hands roamed her body again. His hands came up to cup her breasts.

"Whoa, these are _huge_ now."

She smacked his hand away. "You need to be more careful when you handle these from now on." She turned away and jumped into the shower.

He jumped in right behind her. He purposely grabbed the sponge and body wash first. He used the opportunity to lather her body, embracing every slippery new curve of hers. She turned around to face him and shampooed his hair. It was a habit of theirs they had obviously missed. Moments they had always shared and for a time seemed to be lost. He lowered his lips to hers and drew them into the water. She rinsed his hair and he rinsed her body. They hugged, offering each other the comfort they themselves had wanted to receive in the time they had been apart.

They got out of the shower and walked into their dressing room. Rory put on a cute little sundress and flip flops while Logan chose a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Rory blow dried her hair while Logan set up dinner reservations and prepared a more substantial lunch than crackers in bed. He had cooked a substantial breakfast, and he was surprised that he was already hungry. Rory however, would want to eat something, and quick. He decided to order pizza and made some grill cheese sandwiches to hold her hunger at bay for another half hour. She walked out to the kitchen when she was done and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Mmmm, smells good."

"Come on, let's go sit on the couch. I have a pizza coming soon."

He kissed her temple and grabbed the plate of sandwiches and walked to the couch. She went to the fridge and grabbed two cokes out. He saw her set the drinks down on the coffee table. He grabbed one of them and walked over to the fridge while she turned the television on. He traded the can of coke for one of lemonade. When he walked back to the couch, she was opening the coke. She moved the can towards her lips and Logan pulled it away from her hands and handed her the lemonade.

"Logan!"

"No caffeine for you."

"But Logan…" she whimpered.

"Nope, crying isn't going to get you anything. You can have the lemonade or water. In fact, water's better. Let me go get…"

"No! I'll have the lemonade! I'll have the lemonade!"

He plopped his butt down on the couch and grabbed a sandwich. She was surfing through the channels trying to find a movie. The doorbell rang and he got up to get it. When he walked back, he was carrying an extra large pizza. He went to the kitchen and grabbed some plates and Rory took the opportunity to take a sip of his soda.

"Hey, what did I tell you?"

She took a bigger gulp before he was able to reach her and take it away from her. They ate while watching _Monsters, Inc_. At some point he pulled her towards him and somehow they ended with Rory lying on top of him, her head resting on his chest.

"Hey, Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about everything."

She lifted herself up to meet his eyes. They were sincere and pained at the same time.

"I'm sorry about everything too."

This was it. This was the chance they had both wanted for so long. A chance to explain themselves and forgive each other.

"You know, those girls… they meant nothing to me. And I honestly thought we were broken up. I hadn't heard from you in so long, I just thought…"

"I know, I understand."

"I just didn't understand these feelings that I had for you. And I just wanted to shake them off, and I tried, but I couldn't. It just made them stronger and more undeniable. I realized just how much I loved you."

"Well, it's definitely not the way I would have liked for you to sort out your feelings about me… but I can accept that. I just… I felt so humiliated."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I never told you about it because I didn't want to hurt you. I thought, _'what's the point, we weren't together anyhow'_. And I wasn't intending to leave you there with those girls…"

"Yeah, well I figured that much."

"You know they did that on purpose, right? Especially Walker…"

"I kinda figured that one too. I… I know you weren't cheating," she admitted. "But I thought we were just taking a break from each other, not broken up… and then Honor called…"

"Yeah, but nothing happened until after that. When my sister asked me what was going on with you, it just got me thinking, and I figured that after that long, we really were broken up. You do see that, right? That I honestly thought we had broken up that night at the pub?"

"Yeah," she admitted meekly.

"I'm really sorry that I hurt you."

"I know you are."

"Can you please forgive me?" asked Logan.

"I forgave you a while ago… I just wanted you back."

He hugged her, wanting to comfort both of them. He laid back on the couch, pulling Rory on top of him again.

"So when did you find out?"

"About what? The baby?"

"Yeah."

"About two months ago."

"But I was still here two months ago. Why didn't you tell me then?"

"I just hadn't figured things out yet. I was still hurt and confused by it all. My mom didn't even know until about a week before her wedding. I was kind of ashamed."

"You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yeah, well that's now. You know, I have something I need to confess to you…"

"What is it?"

She sat up again, wanting to look into his eyes when she told him.

"Before I found out I was pregnant… I went to Philadelphia."

"Okay… I'm assuming there's more to that one."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "I went to Philadelphia to see my friend Jess."

"The ex-boyfriend Jess?"

"The ex-boyfriend Jess."

He took a deep breath, wanting to be ready for whatever it was she had to tell him. "Okay…"

"Jess and I… well… there was a kiss."

"A kiss?"

"A kiss."

"Okay… was there more than this kiss?"

"No… well yeah."

He took another deep breath. "What else happened?"

"I threw up."

"You threw up?"

"I threw up."

"That sounds very… not romantic."

"It wasn't romantic. I don't even know how it even got to that. But it happened. I was really depressed and lonely, and he had a party to celebrate his bookstore opening, so I drove out there. Then, next think I know, his lips are on mine and I could smell his aftershave and I threw up."

Logan started laughing.

"You threw up?"

"Yeah, I already covered that, remember?"

"You threw up…" he laughed. "Did you make it to the bathroom that time?"

"Yes, I made it to the bathroom that time. Just barely, but I made it to the bathroom. Stop laughing now."

"Hey, be glad I'm laughing. I should be all sorts of pissed that my pregnant girlfriend was kissing her ex-boyfriend."

"Hey, you and I were broken up then."

"Potato, potatoe…"

"In any case, I didn't want to keep that information from you. Let me know when you're done laughing."

"Hey, Ace?"

"What?"

"You don't feel like throwing up when I kiss you, do you?"

She straddled him and gave him a deep, passionate kiss, the ones that left them both breathless.

"Hmm… no, I don't think I feel like throwing up."

"Good, that's good to hear."

"Hey, Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, and for all the things I said to you that night when you called me at my mom's. I was just… I really was very hurt and confused."

"I know you were."

"I called you back like ten or fifteen minutes later, but you never called me back."

"I don't remember what happened to my phone that night. I probably lost it after you hung up. I was really drunk."

"I remember. But I regretted everything I said to you the minute I hung up and I called you back, you just didn't pick up after that. I never meant any of those things. I'm sorry for hurting you. I never should have said those things. Can you forgive me?"

"Yes, I can."

"I left you a bunch of messages on your cell phone and here at home," she explained.

"Well, I never got another phone, so I'm sorry I never got them."

"I didn't find out about your accident until you'd left the hospital. I was going to give you time to finish with graduation and everything. I thought you wouldn't be leaving for a few more months. I tried going after you that day in the courtyard, but I didn't find you. So I came here looking for you…"

"I left to the airport after that," he remembered.

"I waited for you here until I realized you left…" she remembered sadly.

"I'm sorry I've been… unavailable. I've just been miserable without you, and I wanted to forget you didn't want anything to do with me. If I had known, Rory…"

She kissed him and silenced him, letting him know that none of that mattered anymore.

"So are we done with confession here? Or is there more?" asked Logan.

"Yes, one more thing."

"Shoot."

"I want you back with me. But I don't want you back only because I'm pregnant. I want you to want to be with me because you love me."

"Ace… this baby… it's just the icing on the cake. And I want my cake. Now if there's icing on it, the more to love and the more I want my cake."

"So I'm your cake?"

"Babe, you're the cake with the icing and the candles, the balloons filled with confetti and the ice cream. Any one of those missing, and the birthday party isn't the same."

"Anything else, chief?"

"Yes, I want to see why you had to take over my half of the closet. I want you to model those cute little outfits so we can pick something for you to wear to dinner tonight."

"So it's true? You are taking me out?"

"Our reservation is at eight, so start pulling out the outfits, cause we're celebrating and it's going to be dressy."

They got up from the couch and moved to the dressing room.

"Hey Ace, how far along are you?"

"About seventeen weeks. I'm in my fourth month, or somewhere there. They have a funny way of counting. Two of those weeks you're not even pregnant yet." She started going through her dresses and pulling them out to try on for Logan.

"So we count back to fifteen weeks. What were we up to fifteen weeks ago?"

"We were making a baby, that's what we were up to."

"But weren't we careful?"

"Obviously not careful enough."

"Oh, I remember…" he chuckled to himself. "It was that weekend in South Carolina. Yup, that was a good weekend. If we were going to be making a baby, that was the weekend to do it."

"Well we did it." She tried on a dress and modeled it for him.

"That's a good dress, set that one aside," he said. "Yeah, we weren't really careful that weekend."

She thought for a second before answering. "Come to think of it, isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

_He entered her, needing her warmth and softness around him and unwilling to wait any longer for it. She moaned into his mouth from the tantalizing sensation of feeling him without a barrier._

"_Rory."_

"_Yeah?" she asked breathily._

"_Let's have a baby."_

"_A baby?" she asked, her pleasure clouding her thoughts._

"_Yeah, let's have a baby. I want us to make a baby."_

_She stopped meeting his thrusts, trying to absorb what he was asking her as much as possible. He noticed her hesitate and he stopped his movements._

"_You want to make a baby with me?" she asked._

"_Yes." He kissed her deeply, needing more of her._

_She hesitated for a moment longer before moving her hips from under him and giving him his answer. "Yes."_

"_Yes?" he asked._

_She moved her hips to meet him again. "Yes. But only tonight. If it doesn't happen tonight, you're going to have to ask me again, and I might or might not say yes again."_

_He started thrusting harder into her. "Well then I guess I better get it right tonight then."_

"Well a Huntzberger always gets the job done the first time."

"So it seems. What do you think of this one?" she asked him. It was the dress she had worn the night before.

"I like that one. Wear that one tonight. It shows off your boobs and makes you look sexy pregnant. That last one you tried on just makes you look overweight."

"This is the dress I wore last night. My grandmother bought it so that I could entice you in it."

"Well you can entice me in it tonight. I like how it makes your stomach look. I can't believe I didn't notice last night."

"A blind nun can tell I'm pregnant, how could you not? What were you looking at last night that you didn't notice?"

"I was busy trying not to stare at your boobs popping out as I stared at your boobs popping out."

"Well I guess as long as it was my boobs you were starring at it's okay."


	9. Mickey Mouse College

**AN: Wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and those of you who read and at least tried reviewing. I know FF went funky on all of us last week. You guys are awesome! Also, thanks to everyone over at who nominated this story for the featured fic of the month. You guys are great, and thanks for considering this fic. I'm sorry it took so long to update. Hopefully the next one can be up in a couple of days at the most.**

**What else... what else... I know I wanted to mention something else, but I don't remember what it was anymore. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Mickey Mouse College**

They had taken the helicopter to New York City and dined at Alain Ducasse. After spending a romantic evening out, they decided to stay in the city for the night and surprise Honor and Josh for a visit. Logan checked them into The Waldorf Towers in The WaldorfAstoria, where the family preferred to stay while in the city.

Logan plopped himself on the bed next to Rory. He had chuckled when he saw her packing them an overnight bag.

"_What?" she asked him when she heard him._

"_Nothing, just always planning ahead of time, aren't you, Ace?"_

"_Well knowing you, I have too. I no longer have the luxury of going into any store and being able to pick any outfit. I need a little belly room now, especially if I want to be comfortable. And every time we go to New York we end up staying there, so just in case, I at least have to pack myself an extra change of clothes."_

"_Just an extra change of clothes, huh?"_

"_Yes, just an extra change of clothes."_

"_But I just saw you pack a book in that bag."_

"_Well that is not just a book. It's 'What To Expect When You're Expecting', it's the pregnancy bible, you don't go anywhere without it. You don't even think of going anywhere without it. I have to take my pregnancy bible."_

"_No you don't. Knowing you, you've already memorized it. How many times have you read it?"_

"_That doesn't matter because you haven't read it, so I get away with taking a book."_

Rory draped one of her legs and an arm over him. She playfully raised her foot up to his hardness, teasing him with the gesture and the position that she'd gotten herself into. It was one of her coy moves that she'd often used on him, feigning innocence, edging him to make the next move, but moving away from him if he didn't respond immediately. He decided tonight was another of those nights and he wanted to see how far she'd be willing to take her little game.

He moaned as her leg shifted over him, letting her know he was enjoying the attention, but not moving an inch to take the initiative. He knew she was trying hard to remain still against him.

"Thanks for tonight," he told her. He didn't move his head to kiss her. He knew that if he did, he'd loose the game.

"Thank you. You're the one that planned it all. I hadn't enjoyed myself like this in a while." She raised her arm over her face and pretended to move her hair away. She dropped her hand as casually as possible below his belt. He pretended to yawn. "Are you tired?" She propped herself up on her other elbow to look down at him, not removing her other hand, pretending to use it for leverage in raising herself up a little, but massaging him in the process. Her knee had moved between his knees.

_Ha!_ He had her just the way he wanted her! He didn't open his eyes when he answered her. "Not really, it's just this bed is so comfortable. Why, are you tired?"

"Well, no…"

"Mmhmmm… what else did you want to do?" Good, so she was responding to his advances as opposed to he to hers.

"Well, I don't know…" She moved on top of him and placed a kiss on his lips. "What else is there to do?"

When she was finally straddling him, he flipped them over and Rory let out a yelp of surprise. His mouth was quick to cover hers and she responded to him with passion, leaving them both breathless at the intensity.

"How about we do this? Does this sound good to you?" he asked her. His mouth moved to her collar bone, knowing how she liked to be kissed there.

"Ah… yeah… you know… if there's nothing better to do…" she answered him breathily.

"Ah… no… nothing better."

* * *

Wednesday morning found Emily and Shira meeting for breakfast at the club. Both women had talked the morning before and set their meeting up. They were both upset and very disappointing on how things had turned out the evening before. It was definitely not what they had expected and the whole situation had Shira in a tizzy. They greeted each other with a kiss on the cheek and they sat at a table. 

"Shira, are you alright?"

"I don't understand how you can be so calm, Emily. I never expected this of Logan. And of all girls, Rory! I was sure he was so serious about her! Oh, Emily, the thought of my first grandchild growing up away from our family! I can't believe he'd do this to me. He knows how much a grandchild by him would mean to me."

"Shira, calm down. Don't talk so loud, people will hear you."

"Well what matters if people hear me. They'll eventually find out what he's done."

"Calm down, I have some great news for you. Wonderful news, in fact." Emily smiled from ear to ear. "I have it on good authority that those two have made up."

"What? They have? How do you know?"

The memory of how she knew came to her. "Never mind how I know. I just know. Besides, Lorelai called me last night and told me not to worry about Rory and Logan, that Rory had called her to tell her they were on their way to New York to celebrate!"

"What! That's wonderful news!"

"I thought you'd be happy."

"Oh, what a relief. I thought he left to London the other night. I spoke to him after you left, but I hadn't been able to reach him after that. I wasn't even able to get out of bed at all yesterday from the shame."

"So Mitchum didn't know that Logan hasn't left either?"

"I don't think he knew. Oh, Emily, do you know what this means? My first grandbaby, and from Logan!"

"It's going to be one beautiful baby. And smart, too!"

They began eating and a woman approached their table.

"Emily, Shira, what a surprise."

"Hello Gloria, you look well," said Shira with a bright smile.

"Thank you, you two look lovely as always."

"Why thank you," said Emily.

"Emily, my girls bumped into Rory the other day. Said she had a healthy glow about her. That lovely granddaughter of yours."

"Doesn't she?" added Shira. "Beautiful girl that she is. We're lucky to have her in our family."

"Oh, is she still dating your son?"

"And going strong." The smile. Shira delivered that bright, perfect smile of hers.

"Well I'll just have to wait for that invitation to a vineyard wedding, won't I Emily? My David's going to be disappointed he's lost his chance."

"Send my best to William, Gloria. It was nice bumping into you." Yes, Emily could also deliver that smile.

"Enjoy, ladies." Gloria walked away.

"Most odious woman alive," said Shira, her smile never fading. "Now Emily, I don't think we'd be getting ahead of ourselves if we started putting things together for their wedding. I'm sure that if you and I help them with the planning, we'll be able to pull it off this summer, and they won't have to postpone it any longer."

"I was just about to say the same thing. I have already made an appointment with a wedding coordinator at noon, please join me. If we get started now, I'm sure there won't be a reason for holding it up. Besides, with Logan in London, and Rory getting ready for her last year at Yale, they'll appreciate that we were able to get everything together for them."

* * *

Logan woke Rory up with kisses up and down her naked spine. She quickly began to stir. She could smell something that was calling to her. She turned herself slowly, stretching in the process. Logan placed a peck on her lips. 

"Hey sleepy head. You slept in."

"Well I was tired from making love to my boyfriend all day and night yesterday."

"Well if there's ever a good reason to sleep in, that's definitely it. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Hmmm…" she continued stretching. "Good, and you?" She slowly sat up in bed and Logan helped by placing the pillows behind her.

"I'm good. I ordered us breakfast. I'm just kinda wondering how you're feeling this morning, because I know you weren't feeling all that well yesterday morning, and I know morning sickness is kind of a fixture in pregnancy, I'm just not sure for how long." He pulled up the book that she had packed so she could see he was reading it. Her pregnancy bible. She smiled at him.

"I think I'll be okay this morning."

"So how long does it last?"

"What, the morning sickness? It depends. I don't get it as often as before, and it's wrong to assume it's limited to the mornings."

"So when do you still get sick?"

"I'll get sick if I start smelling something weird and funky, and believe me, I've been picking up smells left and right, or when I get dizzy like yesterday. It's become kind of random now. Before it was every morning and throughout the day."

"Wow, so when did you start getting sick?"

"Almost from the beginning, I guess. Don't you remember that stomach flu we both had around Honor's wedding?"

"Oh yeah… but you weren't that pregnant then, were you?"

"It hit's the first few months. So anything else you want to know, or can I start with my breakfast?"

He went and grabbed both trays and sat next to Rory on the bed. "Here, start your breakfast. I have another question. Lamaze or Leboyer method?"

"What, no coffee? Logan, they forgot to bring us coffee."

"I already had my coffee. You, Miss, don't get coffee."

"But I don't function without coffee."

"You'll live, you'll get used to it. Have some milk."

"Have some milk? That's how you pretend to soothe my need for caffeine?"

"Would you prefer chocolate milk?"

"Ugh! I can't believe this!"

"Ace, just have your breakfast."

"Fine, but if the baby comes out looking like a coffee bean because I was craving it, then it's your fault."

"Yes, but at least it won't be overly nervous child. I prefer things that way. So come on, which one is it?"

"Which one is what?"

"Lamaze or Leboyer?" he asked again.

"Well you can't expect me to make a decision like that this early in the morning when I haven't even had coffee yet."

"Ace, it's 9:30am, it's not that early."

"Any part of the day when you haven't had coffee is early."

"Just eat, I have a surprise for you after this that I think you'll like. You need to be ready in an hour."

"A surprise? What kind of surprise?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise. So get going on those pancakes, woman."

* * *

The surprise had been a good one, indeed. He had somehow managed to set up appointments for her to go in to Marc Jacobs and Carolina Herrera's studios so they could design her the appropriate wardrobe for the rest of her pregnancy, and she didn't walk out of there empty handed. After that they did a little more shopping here and there, mostly preparing the layette and a few suits for Logan. 

"Oh, Logan! Look! Isn't it adorable?" She held up a pink dress with ribbon embroidery.

"Is there something else you might want to tell me, Ace?" He looked at the different tiny pieces draped around her arm. All were different shades of pink, and those that weren't had some sort of pink trimmings on them.

"Oh, look at those over there! Ask someone to take them down for me, please."

"Ace, how about we get some neutral colors in here. What do you think of this yellow?"

"Yellow? No, I want pink. It's prettier in pink."

"I'm sure it is, but I'm not sure pretty in pink is going to be the look we want to go for if it's a boy. Are you sure it's a girl?"

"Well the doctor hasn't told me the sex of the baby yet, but it's a feeling." She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling.

"A feeling, huh?" He kissed her gently on the lips. "So what do we do if it's a boy? Dress him in pink?"

"Well no, I have some blue at home also. It's just the more I look at the yellow and the green, the uglier they look. Logan, imagine a little girl all in pink!"

"So you want all pink, huh?"

"Or all blue. Remember, I have blue too."

"Okay then, you can have your pink." He kissed her one more time. "Except that I want you to choose stuff for a boy too. You know, just in case."

This time she kissed him on the lips. "Thank you. For everything." She looked around another time. "Oh, look at that sailor's uniform! We have to take that sailor's uniform!"

* * *

"Oh my God! Look at you! If Mom hadn't called and told me, I wouldn't believe it!" Honor embraced Rory in a tight hug. "Rory, you look so beautiful pregnant!" She patted her little niece or nephew. "And you!" She turned to Logan and hugged him as well. "I should be mad at you. Avoiding my calls!" 

"It's good to see you guys too," he said to her.

"I'm sorry we were late. The traffic in this city…" said Honor. Josh helped her with her chair and Logan with Rory's. They sat at the best table in _Rosa Mexicano_, which was what Rory was craving that particular evening.

"So how has my sister been treating you Josh? There aren't any complaints, right? Because you can't give her back. It was a No Returns-or-Exchanges kind of deal."

"Well if I did have any complaints, I still wouldn't be able to do anything about it, now would I?" Josh joked.

"Hey, be nice to me, or else!"

Their drinks came soon after they ordered and Rory was a little surprised when Honor said she was joining her with a club soda in solidarity to motherhood. She decided not to think too much into it since Logan didn't seem to pick up anything and she was happy not to be the only person that wasn't drinking this evening. The conversation went from summers in Europe to publishing and investments, and then back to traveling, and then onto family.

"Oh, please! You know why Mom took to Rory so quickly after she took that semester off. It was all that work she did for the DAR and the fact that she _wasn't_ trying to figure out a career just right then. She saw it as Rory training to be a Huntzberger wife to her baby boy. That, and her friend Nina Chase said that it was a shame you snagged Rory from right under her Jordy's nose. She found out Nina wanted Rory for Jordan and she had the upper hand in that one without making an effort!"

"Wait! Who's Jordy and Nina Chase?" asked Rory.

"Jordan Chase, like the credit card," answered Josh, trying to put it in the most simple way possible. "There's a lot of money in that family."

"Nina's a friend of Mom's," added Honor. "So of course, Mom always has to top them off in family accomplishments. And you, my dear, turned into a family accomplishment."

"But who the hell is Jordan Chase? I still don't know them." She turned to Logan. "How did you snag me from right under Jordy's nose?"

"He was that guy I saved you from at the Yale-Male Party your grandparents threw a while ago."

"Oh… him."

"That, and I heard Emily gave Mom an earful at some charity event. Rory, is that true?" asked Honor.

"That might be true…" Rory batted her eyes playfully and looked away.

"Oh my God! I knew I loved Emily Gilmore for a reason!" said Logan.

"All of the above helped you endear yourself to my mother," Honor said to Rory. "That, and the fact that you're giving her a grandchild by her favorite child."

"Oh, come on Honor, you know you're dad's favorite…"

"Don't I know that," added Josh. They all laughed, knowing what it entailed to be Mitchum Huntzberger favorite.

"Well, I won't deny that," said Honor. "It's how I got away with going to Harvard instead of Yale. Rory, did you know Logan was actually headed for Princeton, but Daddy wouldn't have it?"

"Is that so?"

"Little did he know that his boy would rebel against actually showing up to class."

"Hey, I still managed to graduate with excellent grades." Logan defended himself.

"A year after you were supposed to, and after much arm twisting."

Logan lowered his hand to Rory's stomach. "Well I'm making sure this little one goes to school wherever he or she damn well pleases."

"Even if it's Mickey Mouse College?" teased Rory.

"Even if it's Minnie Mouse Beauty School."

"Wow, you really will let him or her get away with everything. I think I'll have to make sure my kid knows how to add besides counting to ten by the time college applications have to go out."

"You know Rory, with this baby you've gotten Mom completely off my back. She hasn't asked me when Josh and I are finally going to grow the family tree since she found out about you."

"Well I'm still kind of shocked that she was actually being nice to me. I mean, she asked me how I had been feeling."

"That, and she called me Monday night and told me I better fix things with you, or she was going to make it her problem, and how I did not want to make it her problem," said Logan.

"Really?" asked Rory. They all just nodded at her.

"Face it, Rory. Mom knew better than to _not_ like you since before my wedding shower, and now that you're carrying the Huntzberger Heir, well she doesn't just like you, she loves you."

"I'm not sure I'm okay with this."

"Look at it this way," says Honor. "With _any_ girl Logan would end up with, she was either going to hate her forever because she wasn't good enough for her baby boy, or she was going to love her because she knew she couldn't take her place. Now with Logan, she never even _dreamed_ that any girl would make him fall in love with her like he did with you. He had never even introduced any girl to the family. She sees you and immediately _knows_ how important you are to him and she's threatened."

"Ah, I see," says Rory. She turns to Logan. "So that makes you a Mamma's Boy, doesn't it?"

"Just as badly as Honor is Daddy's girl," he tried to defend himself.

"Yes, but daddy's girls are meant to be cute. Mamma's boys are meant to be…"

"Don't finish that sentence Ace."

"So anyway, didn't Logan tell you about his big fall from mamma's boy status? He had a huge fight with her the next day and told her that if he wasn't going to respect you or his relationship with you, to not count with him at all. That he wasn't going to be around where you weren't welcomed like another family member. She tried crying and pleading with him, and then cried with indignation and Logan left. She was so mad at him at first that she didn't know whether he wasn't speaking to her or she wasn't speaking to him. But she came around eventually. I think she knows better than to be on the outs with you. Especially after Twinnie and Nina ooh'd and ahh'd about you."

"Really? I'm not sure I can absorb all this information. It's going to take some time to process."

"Well I'll assure you of one thing. As much as Mom might be jealous of you, she is going to be thrilled when she tells Nina that you and Logan are making her a grandmother."

Talk between Logan and Josh eventually turned to business, and Honor mentioned just how grown up her baby brother had become in the course of a few months. Here he was, talking business with her husband, taking responsibilities as the heir to Huntsberger Publishing Group, and about to become a dad.

"Hey, just so it's known, this little one was planned." He rubbed Rory's belly as he planted a kiss on her lips.

"What?" said Josh.

"No way…" said Honor. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Logan couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.

"It was all his idea." Rory pointed to Logan when Honor turned to look at her for some kind of an answer.

"Hey, I didn't hear you complaining or disagreeing with me fifteen weeks ago."

"Now this part I actually have a hard time believing," said Josh. "Not from the almighty Logan Huntzberger. You becoming serious about a girl I can get, hell, even you taking responsibility for your family's company I can get. You starting to settle down I can get. But Logan Huntzberger _wanting_ to have a _baby_? That one's going to take me a while."

"You better start believing it, man. This baby was no accident, at least not in my part. And I don't want _anyone_ thinking otherwise."

"I can't believe you purposely beat us to it," said Honor.

"What have your friends said?" asked Josh, knowing Logan's friends would be more shocked than he was.

"I haven't talked to them yet. I'm thinking of surprising them when we get back to New Haven if I can get in touch with them. I know Finn might be back in Australia. Not so sure how far Colin is though."

"Aw, would you look at them?" said Honor, looking at them adoringly. "Who would have thought my baby brother would be all settled down before he turned forty."

* * *

They had made it back to their apartment in the early evening of that Thursday. They had enjoyed an early dinner, but he wasn't surprised to see Rory approach the refrigerator the minute they walked in. She opened the freezer and pulled out the container of chocolate chip ice cream and started eating right out of it. He saw her go into the dressing room and emerge in her pajamas, not looking like she put the container down at all during her time in there. She went to sit next to him on the couch, offering him a spoonful of her third desert for the evening. 

Logan had called his father early Wednesday morning and told him he would be away for the next few days with Rory. He told him he wanted to meet with him when he came back into town. Mitchum was a lot less reluctant to give him the time off that he had thought. He knew they had to talk in regards to London. They had to come up with something now that Rory was pregnant. He had committed himself to a year in London, at his father's request, but that now had to change. Or at least be altered so that his family life wouldn't be hurt by his work. That was important to him. He knew that was one of the things he wanted to do differently in his own family. _His own family_. He chuckled to himself. It was still a little hard to believe that he and Rory were now, in fact, a family.

They drove to Star's Hollow Friday morning to have breakfast at Luke's, and to drop Rory off with her mom while he took a trip to Hartford to talk with this father.

Lorelai saw the car pulling in from the living room window. Rory waved back at her mom as Logan parked the car. She could see Rory's happiness in the glow her smile gave her face. She ran out to meet her daughter in an embrace.

"My beautiful, favorite child!" they hugged tightly. She placed a bunch of kisses at the top of Rory's head. "So, do we like him now?" she asked, looking over at Logan.

"The sight of him is more tolerable now."

"Good. Come here you," she said to Logan. She gave him a hug. "Good to have you back kid. I have a husband now, so if you hurt my kid, I'm sending him to hunt you down and maim you, understood?"

"Mom? That's not necessary!"

"What? I was just giving him a friendly warning. You know, so he can't say we didn't tell him before hand or anything like that."

"It's okay Lorelai." He wrapped an arm around Rory's waist. "I'm here to take care of Rory."

"Good to hear. Okay, so what are we doing today?"

"Well I'm dropping Rory off here with you for a few hours while I go talk business with my dad. You girls can catch up with whatever it is you two need to catch up in. But first we're having breakfast at Luke's. Rory's craving his blueberry pancakes."

Lorelai bent down and placed a hand to Rory's stomach and started talking to the baby. "Aw, what does the wittle bug want to eat for breakfast?"

"Mom, stop that!"

"What? Does Logan not know about the wittle bug yet? I thought that that was the point of you two talking." Lorelai teased.

"What wittle bug?"

"Hasn't Rory told you? She was going around calling her kid a bug for the longest time. _Do you feel sick, Rory? No, it's just a bug. You look pale, Rory. Yeah, it's a bug. Are you bulimic, Rory? God, no! It's just a bug!_"

"So it's just a bug then?" asked Logan.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Let's go eat, I'm hungry." She started walking in front of them.

"Wait, are you sure _you're_ hungry? Or is the wittle bug hungry?" asked Lorelai.

"Mother! Stop it!"

"Is the wittle bug making you cranky?" They walked faster to catch up with her. Lorelai wrapped her arms around Rory, trying to make up for making fun at her expense. It really only added to her fuel. "Arms… can't… reach…"

"Mother! The shit list! Remember!"

"Oh, yeah." She immediately crossed her arms in front of her and started walking straight again.

They walked into Luke's and ordered their breakfast. Logan was relived to see that Luke didn't send any death threats his way while they sat and waited for their food. He brought their drinks up, placing a cup of coffee in front of both Lorelai and Logan, and a glass of iced milk in front of Rory.

"Lu-uke? I can't have that," she pointed to the glass. "I need my caffeine fix, you should know that."

"Would chocolate make it better?" he asked, mocking her.

"No! Chocolate would not make it better. My caffeine fix needs to come straight from the coffee bean."

"Well then I guess I can't help you. Your breakfast is coming right up."

Rory pouted as Luke walked away. She was quick to pick up Logan's cup and take a good, long sip, not bothering to stop because the hot liquid was burning her tongue.

"Hey! Stop that!" He took the coffee cup away from her.

"Noooooo! Logan, please! Just one more drink."

He looked into his cup to see how much she'd drank from it. "No. Hurry up and drink that glass of milk so you can wash it down or I'll make you eat a grapefruit."

She pouted again, turning to look at Lorelai, who was safeguarding her cup in both her hands close to her lips.

"You're on your own, kid. This one's mine."


	10. Indecent Proposals

**AN: I totally have an excuse for taking this long to update. Here it goes: I think I've mentioned before that my aunt is getting married, and it's out of state, and it's this weekend, so I've been really busy getting everything ready. I'm soooooo sorry it's taken me this long. Promise not to take that long again. I wish there was a way to update you on how the updates are coming along, but there isn't a way, unfortunately.**

**Now, the update. It's shorter than what I wanted it to be, but it has the important stuff in it. If I had made it longer, I'm not sure I would have been able to get it up until tomorrow night, if even this week. I have a lot of future chapters already written, and I'll admit to haven gotten carried away with those and ignoring this one, so again, I apologize.**

**Big thank you to everyone that's reviewed. You guys are great! I hope you like the update.**

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**Chapter 10 – Indecent Proposals**

Logan walked into his dad's study. He closed the door behind him and walked towards the desk, where Mitchum sat.

"Good morning, son. I hope you've enjoyed your days off."

No, no sarcasm in his tone.

"I have, dad. Thank you. I know I need to get back to London…"

"Yes, now about London…"

"There are a few things that will need to change, and I want you to understand them."

Mitchum was intrigued, knowing Logan knew how his side of the conversation would be going. "I'm listening."

"I want you to understand that from this point forward, my family comes first. Rory and our baby come first for me. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm going to dismiss my responsibilities in London or with Huntzberger Publishing Group. But my family is my first priority, and I will go to great lengths to maintain it that way."

Mitchum sat back and listened to his youngest child and only son. The heir to his family's empire. His twenty-three year old son was forming his own family. And not only was he forming his own family, he was offering him a lesson by placing them first.

"Okay… so how do you plan to do that?" Of course the concept sounded very nice and responsible, but feasible was another story.

"I want Rory with me in London until she starts school in the fall. After that, I want to be able to come back at least every two weeks, preferably every week, to see her. Even if it's only for a day, a weekend. I think that my time invested at the paper in London has earned me as much. Things at that paper have never been better."

"That much is true. I think that while it won't be easy, it can be arranged for you to travel every two weeks. I'm not sure how we can handle weekly visits yet, but there is time to arrange that."

"One more thing."

Mitchum could already sense what his next request was.

"I want to be back by Thanksgiving. By then, Rory will be ready to give birth any minute and I need to be here for her. I also don't want to travel until Rory's done with school. If you want me to go back to London after that, that's fine. If you want to exile me to Siberia for a year, that's fine. As long as it's after Rory's done at Yale and I can bring my family with me."

Mitchum took a second before saying anything. "You've thought about this thoroughly, haven't you?"

"Yes I have, sir."

"You and Rory talked about this?"

"Not yet, sir. I wanted to run it by you first. Dad, look, I want you to know that I'm not going to be running away from work. In fact, I'm willing to take full responsibility of those obligations, but only if my requests are met. If not, I'm afraid I'm going to have to look for a job somewhere else."

Mitchum knew he had to thread lightly here. It wasn't that Logan was trying to manipulate the situation, but the fact that he knew Logan would, in fact, leave Huntzberger Publishing, and that was a risk he wasn't sure he wanted to take.

"_Dad, please!"_

"_You know your obligations, Mitchum!"_

"_Yes, I know my obligations. Hell, you know my obligations! You know I have a wife and a small child, and another one on the way, but what about my obligations to them?"_

"_Your wife and children will be here waiting for you when you come back. But right now, I need you in Japan!"_

"_Not more than Shira needs me here with her! You can go to Japan and I can stay here and make sure things are running smoothly until you return."_

"_Shira doesn't need you here! She has a full staff at home, including a nanny for your daughter and a midwife to make sure her pregnancy runs fine."_

"_She gets nervous when I travel. The doctor told us she needs to be under less stress with this pregnancy. You know the trouble she's been having! Don't be so inconsiderate!"_

"_I'll never understand why you married such a nervous creature. You should have married Gabriella McCrae, Andrew's sister, like your mother had arranged. You'd be having healthy, robust children, and none of that nonsense Shira is trying to pull with you."_

"_Shira is coming at the end of her tether. Our obligations to this family are putting a strain on our family and our marriage."_

"_She knew what becoming a Huntzberger wife entailed before she became one. Her mother herself was a de Aragon. The fact that they were impoverished and no longer ruling doesn't make them less royal. She was well aware of the obligations that come from belonging to certain families in this world. If she wasn't going to be able to stand them, then she should have married any Jack Smith in the country or her mother's home country."_

"_Dad, you are pushing me to make a decision that I don't want to make."_

"_And what's that? Leaving the company? I'm not going to pay attention to idle threats, Mitchum. You've been using that line since I have use of reason. You're never going to leave because journalism is in your blood like in every Huntzberger man. You would never be able to live without it and you know I would make it impossible for you to work anywhere else…"_

"You know what that would mean for you, right son?"

"That you'd cut me off. But I'm not afraid of that."

"No, that's not what I mean. And I know you're not afraid of that. What I mean is that you would have to go out there and actually try to figure out what you're cut out for, only to find out that you snubbed the one thing you're good at, that you enjoy. I've seen you, Logan. I know that as much as you try to run in the opposite direction, you can enjoy journalism as a profession. For as much as you try to deny it, it's in your blood. Because when you immerse yourself in it, you get a sense of fulfillment that nothing else can give you. And when you try to run in another direction, you feel like a fish out of water. Son, if I ever saw any other type of interest in you, I'd welcome you to explore it. But you never have had any other interest besides this. So I don't understand why I'd push you to do anything else."

"Would you make it harder for me to get a job at another paper?"

"No, I wouldn't. But there is no need for you to do that. Why go off to work for another paper when you have a job working for your own?"

"I could go into a different field, you know."

"I'm sure you could. But wouldn't it be easier for you and your wife to be able to work side by side so you could keep your family close to you? I thought that was the point you were trying to make. You want to be close to your family. If you go into a different field, it's going to make it harder, considering that Rory is so intent on continuing her career in journalism after the baby arrives. She told me as much the other day."

Logan was beginning to get confused. "So what are you trying to get at, dad?"

"What I'm trying to say is, that it's not going to be easy, Logan. But I will help you and Rory. This profession… it's demanding, no matter what part you take in it. You are going to have to sacrifice a lot sometimes, and you have to understand that. The both of you will. But I promise that if you take care of me, I'll take care of you and your family. That might change someday, and it's what I am trying to get you ready for, I hope you know that. So do we have a deal?"

"I think we have a deal." Logan smiled and shook his dad's hand.

"Good. Does that mean I can have you back in London by tomorrow?"

"Ah, well, let me talk to Rory first, but I think it can be arranged so that I am there by Monday. There are a few things I need to do before I leave."

"Tell you what, if you leave with Rory, I'll give you until Tuesday morning to be at the paper. If you have to leave without her, you leave tonight, and you can be back next weekend."

"Okay, but let me call you and let you know which one it's going to be. I'm going to go run it by Rory. Besides, we need to make sure she's okay to travel. Talk to you soon, dad."

* * *

The girls sat on a table close to the window at Weston's. They had ordered themselves a miniature red velvet cake with a thick layer of vanilla frosting, each holding a fork, savoring the flavor and softness of the cake.

"Hey, Kirk, hurry up with the coffee already. We're gonna choke on our cake," said Lorelai.

"You know, as good as Miriam's cake is…"

"I'm sure yours is always better, Sookie." Rory said with her mouth half full. "Kirk, hurry up, I'm already choking."

Kirk walked towards them, a tray in hand. He lowered it and placed cappuccino's in front of Lorelai and Sookie. He then put a hot cocoa in front of Rory. He started walking away when Rory stopped him.

"Um, excuse me Kirk."

Kirk walked back. "Yes, Rory? Is something wrong?"

"Ah, well, yes. What is this?"

"That is some of the best hot cocoa in the world. Specially ordered from Sweden, extra rich and extra chocolaty."

"I see…"

"Is there something wrong with it? Is it not hot enough?"

"It's hot enough."

"Well then is it too cold?"

"No, not cold at all."

"Then what is it?"

"Well, you see… it's not what I ordered. I ordered a French Vanilla Latte with a double shot."

"I see…"

"So you think you can bring me what I ordered?"

"I'm afraid I can't."

"And why is that?"

"I was threatened by Luke to not serve you coffee."

"What? That is just ridiculous!"

"Well…"

"Well what?"

"A Logan Huntzberger also paid me a lot of money to make sure no establishment in Star's Hollow serves or sells you coffee while you're pregnant."

"He did what?"

"I'm going to walk away now." Kirk walked himself to stand behind the counter as fast as his feet could take him, putting a barrier between him and Rory.

Rory got up from her seat and walked over to the counter. "I want my coffee, Kirk. I'm serious. I'm not playing games here."

"Rory, honey, come and sit down."

"This is a violation to my civil rights!" Rory shouted at Kirk.

"Actually, if you read that sign posted by the door, it says we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."

"Ki-irk! Please! Come on, give me some coffee." She tried her bambi eyes on him.

"Alright… go have a seat and I'll see what I can do for you."

"Thank you Kirk." She made sure she batted her eyelashes at him. She walked back over to the table, satisfied that she would be getting her coffee after all. She took her seat and drank some of the hot cocoa in front of her.

"Okay Rory, so you have to give us the details of the reconcilement," said Sookie. "I called you mom Tuesday morning, and she wasn't really specific past the point that she heard you two made up."

"Hey, how did you know we made up Tuesday morning?"

"Ugh, don't even ask. Nobody wants to hear how I heard. I didn't even want to hear what I heard."

"Anyway, you have to give us all the details!"

"No she doesn't! I heard enough in detail."

"What detail? I haven't told you anything in detail yet."

"Forget about your mother for a second. Tell me, what did he say when you finally talked? How did you tell him? Oh-oh! Don't tell me! He saw you and figured it out! I know he did!" Sookie lowered her hand and patted Rory's small, but noticeable belly. "Cause who wouldn't know there's a little bug in there just by looking at its mommy."

"Well when I woke up in the morning, he was there, which I really didn't expect, especially after the way he left his parent's house."

"Yeah, your mom told me about that."

Rory was fervently eating into the cake in front of her. "Mmmm, well when I woke up, he was draped all over me. I freaked out when I tried to get up but couldn't."

"Okay, okay, but when did you tell him?"

"Well he started asking me what was going on, so I told him."

"Oh my God! That's it? You just told him? Just like that?" asked Lorelai.

"Let her finish her story!" said Sookie.

"Fine, finish your story."

"Well then I told him and we made up?"

"That's it?" asked Sookie. "You told him and you made up? You didn't spill the beans in a sweet, romantic way? He didn't have any grand romantic gesture, begging you to take him back? Or did he freak out? Oh. My. God! He freaked out on you! Please tell me he didn't freak out on you? He better not have freaked out on you!"

"He didn't freak out on me."

Sookie jumped in. "So that means he took it well."

"He took it very well. Better than very well, actually. He's very happy about it. It's what he wanted."

"Aw, so did you celebrate?"

"Wait a sec, what do you mean, that's what he wanted?" asked Lorelai.

"Oh, we celebrated! He also took me shopping to New York to celebrate."

"Aw, Lorelai, they celebrated! How incredibly sweet and romantic! Was there dancing? Please tell me he also took you dancing…"

"But what do you mean, that's what he wanted?" Lorelai continued asking.

"He took me dancing. In fact, he reserved a private room at Alain Ducasse where we had a nice dinner, accompanied with a string quartette."

"Oh. Just dreamy. Doesn't he sound dreamy?"

"I said what did you mean that's what he wanted."

"You asked, not said," corrected Rory.

"Good to see that Yale education is paying itself off. So what did you mean?"

"I meant that Logan is happy we're having a baby."

"Well I got that with the 'we celebrated' portion. I mean, what did _you_ mean when you said that's what he wanted."

"I meant he wanted to have a baby."

"Wait, this is not computing. You're going to have to start from the beginning."

"I started from the beginning."

"No, not Tuesday morning beginning. I mean the '_Logan wants to have a baby_' beginning. Kirk, bring us another cake!"

"Don't forget my coffee!"

"Wait, Logan wanted to have a baby?" asked Sookie.

"Well…" Rory swallowed the last bit of cake before answering, buying time. "Yeah."

"How did this happen? When did this happen? Does he _know_ what it means to have a baby? I mean do _you_ know what it means when a guy asks you to have a baby?"

"I'm not sure this is the conversation we should have while at Weston's"

"It's only Kirk in here right now. Rory, do you… I mean… haven't you… I mean… start explaining, kid."

"Hey, we don't need to be chastised about this. You said it yourself, we're both adults now."

"Oh, boy…" said Sookie. It was all she could muster at the moment.

"I'm not chastising you. I'm… I guess I'm trying to understand what's going on here. I mean, I thought I knew, but I'm not so sure now."

Rory knew what her mother was getting at, and she wasn't so sure she really wanted to go there with her yet. She wasn't sure she wanted to go there herself. It was something that had crossed her mind many times since she found out she was pregnant, but didn't want to delve in too deep until she was sure exactly how her relationship with Logan stood at that point. Sure, he seemed to be happy now, but the full implications of something like this, not to mention their separation and their careers. It was a conversation pending between her and Logan, but she wasn't sure she should look forward to it.

"I don't think I can have this conversation with you quite yet."

"Why not?"

"Logan and I need to sort some stuff out first."

"Well I'm not happy with this Readers Digest version. I need to know more."

She let out a sigh before answering. "I'll answer you if you promise one thing."

"What's that?"

"You will not say a word about this anymore. I don't want to hear it, least of all now. Mostly because I don't have a fully thought out answer. I am limiting your questions to three on this particular portion of the subject. Deal?"

"Say it's a deal Lorelai," Sookie urged her.

"Fine, deal."

"Question number one."

"You really mean Logan wanted to have a baby?"

"Yes."

"Okay, if we're keeping our deal, you need to expand on that one."

"It's just that mom, Logan wanted to have a baby. And now we're having a baby, so he's happy that we're having a baby, because it's what he wanted."

Lorelai didn't say anything. She looked out the window, processing the answer she had just gotten. Sookie looked at both Lorelai and Rory, who just stared at her mom, trying to decipher her reaction. Lorelai finally spoke again.

"Okay, so what I'm getting from your answer is that Logan wanted to have a baby and now that you are having a baby, it's something he's happy about. Because that's what he wanted…"

"Are you ready for your second question?"

"Um… I guess… so… maybe this baby wasn't really an 'accident'? Maybe it was intentional on his part? Or maybe you were aware of his… intentions…"

Rory looked her mom in the eye. "It wasn't an accident."

"Okay… hmm…" Lorelai took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Mom…"

"I'm just kinda processing here. Give me a second."

"Okay…"

"So… third question… my last question… it better be a good one… can I ask what the hell you two were thinking?"

"Mom, please! I said no chastising…"

"I'm not chastising anyone! I'm asking my third question, dammit! It's part of the deal, remember? I get to ask three questions, and I get three answers! So answer my question, Rory!"

Rory stood quiet for a minute. "I can't answer that."

"Why the hell not? It's my last question, so I want an answer!"

"I…"

"I mean, weren't you careful? I thought you were on the patch?"

"It irritated my skin, so I took it off."

"Well what about the pill?"

"It was making me sick, so my doctor took me off it and put me on the patch."

"Rory…"

"Mom…"

"Did Logan know about that? Is it something he did on purpose because he knew you weren't on anything? Or did you forget to mention it to him?"

"Mom, please! You're past your three questions already."

"Well I didn't get a complete answer for the last one, so I get a do-over!"

"Look, I'll tell you this much, and it's all you're going to be getting from me. And after that, I don't want to hear it anymore, okay? I don't need anyone questioning this."

"Fine." Lorelai crossed her arms around her chest and waited for an answer.

"At some point in our relationship, one night, Logan and I thought about having a baby, and it's happening. Now. Logan knew I wasn't on anything. He didn't do anything on purpose. Well, he did. But it wasn't anything I wasn't aware of, or didn't want. Anyway, we knew what we were doing when we were doing it."

"Okay, that was just too dirty for this time of day."

"Can you please accept that answer?"

"That depends…"

"On what?"

"Is that the whole truth?"

"In a nutshell… yeah."

Both Lorelai and Rory took deep breaths in, careful of what the next words they would exchange be. Sookie was the one to break the silence.

"Aw, so that means this little one was planned, huh?" She smiled at Rory, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah…"

"Don't you see what that means, Lorelai? That the both of them did think about starting a family before it happened. It just happened sooner that you would have expected it."

"Yeah, well, I guess. I mean, if it really is something that they were both thinking about, then how come I didn't hear anything about it until now?"

Rory looked up at her mom. She could tell she was disappointed she hadn't shared that with her sooner.

"Well Rory's grown up now. Think about it, really. It's something that you're supposed to discuss with your partner, not with your parents." Sookie tried to reason with her.

"Yeah, I guess. Sorry I freaked out, kid."

"It's okay, mom. I should have mentioned it sooner."

Kirk walked towards their table and placed another cake in front of them, talking the empty plate with him and placed a cup of coffee in front of Rory. This made Rory grin and she brought the cup up to smell it before drinking from it.

"Ugh, Kirk."

"Yes, Rory?"

"What is this?"

"It's the coffee you asked me for."

"This isn't coffee, Kirk. This is a very bad practical joke."

"No, it's what the guidelines said I should serve, should I ever risk bodily harm."

"What guidelines?"

Kirk took a piece of paper out from his apron. Rory took it away from him and read it. It was in Logan's writing.

"He said that in case of an emergency, I should serve you one third part watered down decaf with two thirds parts whole milk, flavored to taste. So there you have it, your coffee."

"Mom! Help me do something about this!" cried Rory indignantly.

"Sorry, hon. Pregnant women can't have coffee. One of the many things you should have thought about when you thought about having a baby. Didn't it come up in your Pro-Con list?"

* * *

Logan answered his cell phone as he was pulling into Lorelai's driveway. He had looked at the display but didn't recognize the number.

"You are going to pay," said Rory.

"Why? And how did you get this number?"

"You called my cell phone on Wednesday while we were shopping, remember? Nice subtle way of changing the conversation, by the way."

"I thought so too."

"How the hell did you know Kirk was the person to threaten?"

"He used the word threaten? I'm offended. I didn't threaten him, I bribed him. He was handsomely compensated, by the way. I would have expected him to keep this transaction between us for the amount I paid him. Where are you, by the way?"

"I'm at the Inn, taking up as much of Michel's desk as I can."

He could hear some words being spoken in her direction with an incoherent French accent. He chuckled imagining what Michel was huffing and puffing at her.

"I thought I'd find you at your mom's house. Are you ready to go? Because there's some things we need to do. I have a proposition for you."

"Is it indecent? Because if it is I might be inclined to accepting it before I even know what it's about." He could hear Michel scream something in French. Then he heard Lorelai call out to her. "Hey, we'll be over in five minutes. Hang tight."

He got out of the car and went to sit on the steps of the front porch. He looked around and noticed that the porch wrapped around the house, so he decided to get up and do a little exploring. He noticed the one-car garage that was unattached from the house, and the side door that opened up to the kitchen. He went all around the house and noticed that the structure looked larger from the front than it actually was. Besides a very large yard that for the most part seemed to be never used, the porch on the back of the house seemed to extend into a deck with an old little grill and a table with a bench on each side that he could also see was never used. He sat at the first step of the back porch and looked around him. He could see there was some sort of a carved canopy sitting in one of the corners, ribbons and flowers attached to the posts.

"Hey, you. What are you doing out here?" Rory went to sit next to him.

"What's that for?"

"The chuppah? Mom and Luke used it for their wedding."

"Is that what it is? Huh. Is Luke Jewish? I know your family isn't."

"Nah. You know, I actually don't know what religion Luke's family is. That chuppah has a long story though. Luke actually carved it."

"Really? Wow, interesting. So was your mom's wedding here?"

"Yeah, they got married here at the house, and the reception was at the Inn. So you want to come in and take the official tour of the Crap Shack? Or you want to tell me that indecent proposal you had for me."

He wrapped his arm around her waist before saying anything. "Rory, come back to London with me."

She turned to face him, but he didn't release her from his embrace. "Logan…"

"For the rest of the summer. You'll fly back in time to start school, and I'll be back for good by Thanksgiving. I can fly back every weekend from September until November. Say yes, Rory. Two and a half months of traveling back and forth I can do, but not four or five."

"Are you sure you really want me to go?"

"Of course I do. I had wanted you there with me this summer all along. I just didn't want to push you to be there if you had other things to do. I know you're preparing for your last year at Yale, but now, I want you there with me for as long as I can have you." He brought his hand to her abdomen. "I've already missed almost half of this. I don't want to miss any more than I absolutely have to. When I said I wanted us to have a baby, I meant that I wanted us to have a baby. I want to be there for everything. For all of it. I hate that I've missed so much already…"

She moved her lips on top of his, silencing him. He responded to her by deepening their kiss.

"I will love to go to London with you."

"That's good." He gave her a peck. "Because I was ready to drag you against your will with me. That means you need to pack, because we'll probably be leaving Monday morning. I need to be at the paper on Tuesday. We also need to call your doctor's office ASAP, have them see you today and give you medical clearance to travel."

"Wow, we're leaving that quick?"

"I can come back next weekend to pick you up. But that's going to be a little hard considering that I've been away for a week now. If it's better for you, we can wait a week or two…"

"No, let's leave now! I'd rather leave now! This is going to be great! My third summer in Europe!"

"Look at you. Giddy like a little five year old at her birthday party."

"Hey, I was bored last summer when I didn't go. I get to be giddy over London. The first time I went, we only spent two days there. That wasn't enough time to do London properly."

"Well you'll have plenty of time this summer. And I promise I'm not going to be spending all of my time at the office. I am going to be making time to take a lunch, and head home in time for dinner."

"Pinkie swear?"

"Pinkie swear. I have one more thing for you."

"A present? For me?"

"I want you to know that this is something that I've thought about for a very long time." He took the small box out of his jacket. Rory let out a gasp the minute she saw what he was holding. "Now, I want you to know how important the contents of this box are. And I'm going to tell you a little story." He opened the box to reveal a large Asscher-cut diamond ring. The slightest movement caused the sun to make it sparkle. "Now this ring… this ring has staying power, and I'll tell you why. I've been carrying it around with me for a while now. Since you moved in with me, because I didn't want you to accidentally find it.

"There was this one day after we got back together that I went to my mom and I told her that the time had come for her to relinquish this ring to me. And my mom and I… well, I've always been her favorite. She's never hidden that fact from anyone. So it wasn't normal for us to not be on good terms for that long. So she sat me down and we had a good, long talk. A heart to heart. I told her everything you meant to me, and how when I was with you… I just wanted what I've never thought I'd ever have a desire to have in my life. That you actually made me think about things in a positive way. That as hard as I thought it would be, I looked forward to having all those things. That for the only time in my life I actually wanted a girlfriend. And not just a girlfriend, but a wife, and kids, my own family. Things that I had never even thought about. That had never crossed my mind."

"Oh, Logan…"

"So it was time for her to give me the ring. Now, that was no easy task for her, to give up this ring. Because you see, this ring has a history. It belongs to the Huntzberger heir's fiancée. It's been that way for about a hundred and fifty odd years, or so. Now, when my dad went to get the ring from Grandma Lilibeth, as it was his right, to give it to mom, she refused to part with it because the Van Hausen's weren't good enough, and who cared that her mother was a de Aragon. They hadn't been royalty in centuries. So Grandma Lilibeth never gave dad the ring, she was horrible to mom for nine years, and one day, Grandma has a massive heart attack that almost kills her."

"Almost kills her? Just almost?" Rory was crying at this point, but choked a few tears back to say something.

"Just almost. So anyway, for a full year, mom took care of horrible Grandma Lilibeth, and of all the charities Grandma belonged to, not to mention the one's she was already the head of. Now, half of that time, grandma was too sick to even protest mom taking care of her, and she didn't protest that much when she was finally able to. So a year after the massive heart attack, grandma dies. But not before handing dad the coveted Huntzberger ring to give to mom. So my mother had to wait ten years to receive this ring. She worked hard to deserve this ring. But the time came for her to relinquish the ring. And she did it gracefully, might I add. So for months, I've been carrying this invaluable family heirloom with me, waiting for the perfect time to give it to you. Now, I could have lost this ring. I jumped off a cliff in Costa Rica with this ring in one of my pockets. The hospital staff could have stolen it. I could have lost it on the move to London. But this ring knows where it belongs. It took ten years for its former rightful owner to finally wear it. This time it's taken a few months, but not a day more than it should. Rory, please accept this ring and marry me."


	11. Same Religion, Half the Guilt, Same Reli

**Authors Note:** So sorry to submit this twice, but I noticed that I didn't include a note.

I am soooooooo incredibly sorry for not updating in five months. I have a bunch of excuses, none of which I'm sure you want to hear, lol. Truth is, most of this chapter was written before I even posted the last one, but things got in the way and I didn't want to update until I was sure I was happy with it, and it took a backburner to many things, Illusive being only one of them.

It's been five months and I'm always surprised I'm still being asked for an update. Thank you so much for not forgetting about this fic! It's such a nice compliment.

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Same Religion, Half the Guilt, Same Religion, Twice the Guilt**

"Hey, do you know where Rory disappeared to?"

"I saw her walking towards the back yard. Maybe she's in the garage," answered Sookie.

"Why would she be in the garage?"

"Maybe she wanted to be in the girlie corner, cause you know, that's what we turned the garage into."

"Well Logan's car is still parked outside, so that must mean that they're outside talking."

"Okay, well I need to get back to the Inn. I trust Manny with my kitchen, but not for more than two hours a day. You coming with me, Honey?"

"Nah, I'm going to wait for Rory to appear. I know he's here to pick her up already, so I want to say goodbye before she goes back home."

"Home, huh?"

"Yeah, I know. I almost can't believe my baby's got a home away from home. And I mean, like a real home. With a man and a baby of her own on the way. Not to mention that she _planned_ said baby with said man, and here her mommy didn't know about it."

"I'll see you in a bit then."

"Bye."

Lorelai walked up the stairs to her bedroom to grab the laundry. She walked out to the garage and cursed the fact that she let Luke talk her into moving the washer and drier out of the side porch and into the garage. After putting Luke's work clothes into the dryer and setting her delicates to wash, she walked towards the back of the house. She was stopped on her tracks at the exchange before her.

Logan and Rory held each other in a tight embrace, sharing a passionate kiss. Rory moved her hand up and tangled her fingers in Logan's hair, a bright sparkle reflecting from her left hand. Their lips parted when Rory stopped and murmured something. They both laughed and their eyes met. They gave each other a look of hopeless devotion to the other before kissing again. Logan said something that made pull back her head and laugh. She stretched out her left arm to admire her hand from afar. She made some sort of remark that made him laugh before taking her hand in his and kissing it.

* * *

The doorbell rang and Emily got up excitedly to answer it. Only Lorelai stood on the other side.

"Where's Luke?"

"Hello to you too, mother. It's always nice to see you."

"Didn't you tell him it was important for him to be here? A family meeting was called. That means the members of said family have to show up. Has he not finished grasping the definition of family?"

"Yes he has, it's just that he wasn't anticipating you moving Friday night dinner up an hour. He had to close shop and then he's picking up April. She's staying with us this weekend. They should be here soon enough anyways."

"Well come in. Mitchum and Shira are here. We thought you were Rory and Logan."

"Well I spoke to Rory a couple of minutes ago and they're still on the I-91."

"They're still on the 91? They were on their way more than forty five minutes ago. Where in the 91 were they?"

"I don't know. I'm not their GPS system."

"Why do I ever bother asking?"

After handing her coat and purse to the maid, the started heading towards the living room but the doorbell rang.

"Oh, that must be them!" Emily turned in her heels and excitedly opened the door only to be disappointed again. "Oh Luke, it's just you."

"Don't feel bad, there was a lot more disappointment in her voice when she opened the door for me," added Lorelai.

"Hi Emily."

"Come in. I thought April was coming with you tonight."

"Well she was but something came up, so I'll be picking her up later. She should be here next Friday, though."

"Well we'll be happy to see her. Come in, come in. Shira and Mitchum are waiting in the living room."

They walked into the living room where Richard was busy serving drinks.

"Oh Lorelai, it's just you. We thought you were Rory and Logan."

"Well no, not just me. Luke is here too. You remember Luke, right dad? He's your only daughter's husband."

"Of course I remember Luke, Lorelai. Luke, how are you? Can I offer you something to drink?"

"Ah, I think I'll just have whatever you're having."

"Luke, meet Logan's parents, Mitchum and Shira Huntzberger," Emily introduced them. "This is Luke Danes, our son in law."

"How do you do." Mitchum extended his hand to shake Luke's.

"We'd met before, actually."

"Oh… that's right, we had." He remembered that morning in the Vineyard and it embarrassed him to look back. He had stormed into the house not caring what he said and who was there to hear him. "Well I'm glad we have a chance to meet again under better circumstances."

They had just taken a seat when the doorbell rang again and Rory and Logan walked in, hand in hand. After all the required hello's and the disbursement of drinks of choice, they finally got down to business.

"Oh, it's so wonderful to finally have you two together again. You'll be staying here in Connecticut now, won't you Logan?" Emily asked.

"Well, actually, not yet. I'm going to be traveling back and forth for a few months. There are some things in London that I need to square away before I can permanently move back to the states."

"Oh you are? So you'll be leaving Rory alone? I'm not sure that's such a good idea in her state…"

"Well," Logan turned to look at Rory for reassurance. They both couldn't help but smile at each other when their eyes met. "No, actually. Rory is coming with me to London until Yale starts up in the fall again. And I'm hoping to have permanently moved back before Thanksgiving."

"Well that is good news. Isn't that good news, Richard?"

"Good news, indeed."

"Wait, so you won't be taking at least one semester off?" asked Shira. "It would be good for you to take some time off. The stress of finals just days before you're due to have a baby isn't good."

"Rory doesn't need to take time off, mom. I mean, she can do whatever she needs to do. Be that stay home or stay in school. And Rory wants to stay in school. If she changes her mind later on then so be it. Besides, I'll be home before the baby's here. And once the baby is here, I'll be taking care of him or her while Rory's in school or studying."

"I know. It's just that it's so difficult, especially with a first baby. And you may say that now, that you'll be around, but I heard that same line from your father back then. Your position is so demanding. I just think that without that added pressure of her traveling back when school starts, and you traveling back and forth from London, it might be easier on you two to just stay in London until you're done there. Or not to go back to London at all…" After saying this, she turned to look at her husband. Mitchum just shook his head.

"I _need_ him in London. I've already promised him the most I could do, by cutting his stay to less than half the time. And I'm keeping my word on that one. We made a deal, and I have to stick to my end of the bargain."

"But is traveling going to be safe for Rory?" asked Richard.

"We just came from the doctor's earlier today and she and the baby got a clean bill of health, and yes, it's okay for her to travel."

"So then you two will be in London this summer," emphasized Emily.

"So that's it? Is that all you wanted to get us all together for?" asked Shira. She was hoping there would be more than this, given that her left hand was feeling a lot lighter these days without a certain heirloom.

"No, that wasn't it actually. You guys just kinda beat us to it with the London talk. We have something else we wanted to tell you. I finally had the chance to propose to Rory, and she finally had the chance to say yes. We're getting married."

"Oh my God! That's great news! Richard they're getting married!"

"Well this is something we must celebrate!" said Mitchum.

"Oh Emily, the wedding!" added Shira. "We can have that summer wedding we have planned out for them!"

"Summer wedding?! But we're not having the wedding this summer. I'm going to London with Logan. We won't be here!"

Lorelai elbowed Luke to catch his attention. "See, I told you it'd be fun this time. Too bad April's missing it."

"Actually Grandma, Logan and I talked about that already, and we decided to wait until after the baby to have a wedding."

"But Rory, you two should have the wedding before the baby. It's the right thing to do. Besides, if you wait until after the baby it's going to be so hard to plan and coordinate something. You're going to be busy with you last semester at Yale and taking care of a newborn. You two should be married before you have the baby."

"And we agree, Emily," Logan cut in. "We are getting married before the baby gets here. We're just not having the wedding until later."

"Well I don't like this idea," said Shira. "We have such a beautiful wedding all planned out for you this summer. We were able to bump the Mitchell's from the Windsor Club, and that's where we were going to be hosting the rehearsal dinner."

"And where's the actual wedding taking place?" asked Lorelai.

"Mom!"

"What? Can't I ask where my only daughter's getting married?"

"The wedding is going to be held in the Japanese Tea Gardens. Honor was supposed to have her wedding there, but the weather was going to be bad for an outdoor wedding that day."

"No, mom. One of the reasons Rory and I want to wait until after the baby is because we want to get married in church."

"A church?" asked Lorelai.

"Well that sounds very nice of you two," added Richard.

"Well I'll go find out if _Christ Church Cathedral_ is available…"

"No, Grandma, not that church."

"Why not? What's wrong with the cathedral? You two deserve to be married in the cathedral."

"Well, sure, but just not _that_ cathedral."

"Well if not that cathedral, which one then?"

"Actually Emily, we were thinking of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York, where my parents got married."

Shira let out a yelp of joy as she jumped up from her seat and went to hug Rory and Logan.

"Saint Patrick's Cathedral…" started Emily. "But that's a Catholic church. We're not Catholic. Mitchum, isn't your family Episcopalian as well?"

"They most certainly are. But Shira's mother was Catholic, so we had a Catholic wedding, and both the kids were baptized there too. Shira likes to go to mass there whenever we're in New York."

"That's right. I remember your wedding. Lovely ceremony you both had. Don't you remember that weekend in New York, Emily? Even Lorelai went with us. You remember, right Lorelai?"

"I don't understand… a _Catholic_ wedding… _why_ a Catholic wedding?" continued Emily.

"Well Rory and I started discussing how we wanted to raise our baby," his arm reached behind her and held her waist as to hold her closer to him, while he protectively placed his other hand on her small bump. "And any other babies after this one. Neither one of us has been particularly religious, but we thought that we might want to change that a bit with our kids. Give them a little bit of more foundation in their beliefs. And well, since we're both Catholic–."

"_Both_ Catholic!?" Emily cut him off. "Both Catholic? Both whom? Rory's not Catholic."

"Um… actually Grandma, I am."

"How? No one in our family is Catholic. Lorelai, did you know about this?"

"I… um… well, yes. The being Catholic part. The wanting to get married in a church is _completely_ foreign to me."

"When did this happen, Lorelai?"

"I, uh, well… I guess it happened after I moved to Star's Hollow." She shrugged her shoulders and tried to give an easy going answer as she possibly could. This one was going to be tough to explain.

"Will you tell me how? Because I wasn't aware that you had changed religions, Lorelai."

"I didn't change religions, mother. I just opted to give one to my kid that happened to be different from my family's. I… well, it's just that it was during a really difficult time for me, and Mia from the Independence Inn started taking us to church with her on Sunday's. And one day they asked 'Is your baby baptized?' and I said no, and so they baptized her. And it _just so_ happened that it was a Catholic mass. And then there was that year when Rory was six and Alexandra Grant's mother was taking her to catechism on Saturday's, and they were giving Alexandra these books to take home and memorize, and Rory wanted to memorize them, so Rory asked me to take her, and that's when she had her First Communion. And because she just didn't have enough to study when she was in Star's Hollow High and Mrs. Kim was looking at Rory funny and wouldn't let Lane come out and hang out with us, then she did her Confirmation. So there. That's your _'How is Rory Catholic'_ story."

"So because you decided to rebel against us, you changed yours and Rory's religion? Honestly Lorelai."

"What? Don't you know that being Episcopalian is the same thing as being Catholic? Robin Williams said so. It's the same religion, half the guilt. Same religion, half the guilt. Half the guilt for you though. Twice the guilt for me and Rory. Well, now it's twice the guilt for Rory, Logan and the baby, cause I'm free to go. I'm done raising her."

Logan leaned in to whisper in Rory's ear. "I guess right now would be the wrong time to tell them we're eloping this weekend."

"Did I just see you mouth _'elope'_?" asked Emily. "Don't you two dare! That won't be a proper wedding for a Gilmore and a Huntzberger! I'll take a proper Catholic wedding any day to an elopement!"

Shira was still in cloud nine. "Oh Emily, we need to get started on the guest list! A wedding in New York! We need to find the proper place for the reception. I'm sure Honor can help us now that she's moved there. But there's so much for us to plan! We're going to need to book the caterer as soon as possible, and come up with a menu…"

* * *

_**Two weeks later…**_

The doors to the elevator opened and Rory stepped out and turned in the direction she remembered Logan had given her to his office. They'd moved to London two weeks ago, but with all the hassle of moving, she'd yet to have the chance to visit him at the office. That, and the fact that he'd been from one meeting to the next since he'd gotten back didn't help the matter too well.

The newsroom was larger than the SEG and it looked incredibly busy. She took note of the constant movement around her as she walked down the halls towards what she could see was the door that she was looking for. She turned the doorknob and entered the office.

"I'm sorry, miss, but you can't go in there."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this not Logan Huntzberger's office?"

"Yes it is, but he's probably left for the day now."

In that moment Logan rushed into his office and was glad to see Rory.

"Hey Ace. Sorry I'm late. My meetings ran late today." He gave her a quick peck in the lips, not caring that his secretary was in front of them.

Realization washed over Maura's face. "Mrs. Huntzberger! I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I thought…"

"Hey don't worry about it Maura. Rory, I'd like you to meet Maura. She's the one that makes sure I make it home to dinner on time every night. Maura, this is my wife Rory."

They shook hands. "It's nice to meet you, Maura. Thanks for sending him home on time."

"Oh, it's fairly easy now that you're here in London. I just give him a good hard shove out the door on my way out. His first month here we would dynamite the place and even then we couldn't get him to leave."

Rory turned to Logan. "Your dad told me you were overworking yourself."

"So you're that beauty from back home he was pinning after when he came here."

"I hope I was. Otherwise he just married the wrong girl."

"Well I'm glad you're finally here. He was absolutely miserable without you. Wasn't eating. Wasn't sleeping. Working twenty hours a day, every day. He was just a mess. The paper had never been better, but judging by the looks of him now, he was a total wreck. Anyway, I've got to run. I have to set up for the next meeting."

They saw Maura run out into the newsroom and close the door behind her.

"Very interesting, this information she just gave me."

"Well, you knew about it anyway."

"Yes, but here I got it from a first-hand source. Logan Huntzberger, a workaholic. Who would have thought? Do Colin and Finn know about this? You can get kicked out of the club for something like that."

"Well enough about my work ethics. You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Did you bring your records?"

"The carrier dropped them off yesterday, and they already received the rest from Dr. Roths' office, so we're good."

"Okay, then lets go."

* * *

"Logan, you need to stop that." Rory pushed the button in the lobby elevator.

"No I don't. This is an important event. This is our first prenatal appointment, and it needs to be documented." Logan was holding a digital camera, recording all footage from the moment they arrived at the building. The doors opened and they stepped in, Logan never putting the camera down as Rory pressed the button to the seventh floor.

"No it's not. This is our second prenatal appointment. Do you not remember documenting the one we had a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yes, but this is a follow up to the first appointment that left us in a cliffhanger. Dr. Roths heard two heartbeats, past ultrasounds seem to show only one baby, you're showing more than other women at this stage in their first pregnancy. This is a pivotal appointment. Besides, we'll probably find out what the sex of the baby is."

"Well, I'm not sure I want to know."

"Ace, we talked about this…"

"Yeah, I know, but I've changed my mind."

"Aw, come on Ace. I thought _we_ decided we wanted to know."

"Well _we_ aren't so sure anymore. I think I want to be surprised. Don't you want to be surprised?" She pushed his camera away and kissed him. "We already know it's a baby, that's enough. We can still prepare for a baby only knowing we're having a baby. We don't need to know if it's a boy or a girl."

"But if we know what we're having, we can either buy things specifically for a boy or a girl."

"But we are preparing for a boy or a girl. Pink ribbons and blue sailor suits, remember?"

"Oh, right. So if we have a girl this time around, we can save the blue sailor suits for the next baby. Or maybe we're having a boy and a girl." He was only half joking.

Rory's face paled, being caught off guard by the comment. The elevator doors opened and Logan had to pull her out to get her walking towards the new obstetrics office.

Rory reached to open the door and Logan stopped her.

"Wait, wait." He opened the camera again and made sure it was recording. "Okay, go."

"You're going to freak people out in there. This is against HIPAA policy."

"Just open the door, Ace. We're going to be late. Besides, I don't think HIPAA can come and get us in this part of the world."

Rory opened the door. Heads turned as she and Logan walked in, camera in hand. "Hi," she greeted the woman at the front desk. "Lorelai Gilmore-Huntzberger. I'm not sure by what name you have me down as. I think my mother in law's secretary set up the appointment."

The woman checked her computer. "I've got you down as a Rory Huntzberger, and your records came as Lorelai L. Gilmore. Are you all the same person?"

"Same person."

"Alright, come in please." She pointed to Logan and gave her an odd look. "Is he with you?"

"Yes, I'm dad," he happily volunteered. He made sure he recorded the woman's expression before they were led inside.

"Oh, um, yeah. You'll have to forgive my husband." _Husband_. It was odd for her to hear these words come out of their mouths. Wife, husband, married, baby. They were new to her, and it almost made her giggle with a surreal happiness. Though she wouldn't readily admit it, she was enjoying his silliness and excitement.

"First time fathers, you can spot them five hundred yards away. We had one here a week ago that wanted Dr. Morris to instruct him in giving his wife a pelvic exam."

Rory scrunched her nose and turned to Logan. "Don't you go getting any ideas."

"Hey, I can appreciate that man's sense of duty. He feels a need to be prepared in case he needs to help his wife deliver their child in an emergency."

They walked into an examining room. After taking Rory's weight and blood pressure, she was instructed to change into a gown while they waited for the doctor. A few minutes later, a tall, dark, handsome man in his mid to late thirties walked in. Logan's head immediately shot up and eyed the doctor up and down, but remained quietly as he introduced himself to Rory first, and then to him.

"Hello there Mrs. Huntzberger, I'm Dr. Patrick Morris." He shook her hand and turned to greet Logan. "Mr. Huntzberger. I've heard a lot about you two from Shira."

"Oh, you know my mother?" asked Logan.

"Yes, she and my wife met at a dinner your mother hosted here over ten years ago, after your father bought out The York Publishing Group. My father in law use to own it."

"How interesting," adds Rory. "Those are the offices you're working at?" she asks Logan and he nods. He starts walking around them, eventually coming to stand next to Dr. Morris, facing Rory.

"Okay Rory. I've reviewed your records and so far everything looks great. I understand that you two wanted to find out the sex of your baby today. I'm just going to do a quick exam before I send you to get that sonogram." Dr. Morris proceeded to help Rory place her feet up on the stirrups before putting on a pair of latex gloves.

"Wait, aren't you going to perform the sonogram?"

"Um, Logan, come here…" Rory called for him to join her at her side.

"No, but one of our technicians will perform it."

"Are they qualified? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Rest assured Mr. Huntzberger, a qualified technician will be doing it, and it is quite safe."

"So can he tell if we're having twins? Dr. Roth's mentioned that we might be having twins."

"We're not having twins!" exclaims Rory, propping herself up on her elbows.

"He'll be able to tell if you're having twins. Okay Rory, I need you to relax so I can perform your pelvic exam." Dr. Morris went to reach for the lubricant behind him, while Logan stood next to him.

"Whoa, hey, hey, what's that, what are you doing?"

"Logan!"

"I'm trying to give your wife a pelvic exam. Go ahead and relax Rory."

Hearing Logan talk just made her close her knees together.

"Is it okay for you to do that? I thought only a female doctor did that?" Logan interrupted him again.

"No, all gynecologist can perform a pelvic exam. The physicians gender does not disqualify him from treating or diagnosing a patient. Rory, please relax or I won't be able to examine you."

"I can't do it with the both of you down there!" she admitted, not sure if she was ready to laugh or cry from the embarrassment of the situation.

"I'll do it Doc, just tell me how," offered Logan. He wasn't very comfortable with another man feeling Rory up in front of him.

"No!" screamed Rory. "Logan, come here," she hissed at him.

"I'm not quite sure you're qualified. Why don't you go stand next to your wife and face her. If I can't get her to relax, you're going to have to leave the room."

"I said come here!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

Rory extended both her arms to him and took his hands in hers, pulling him close to her. He bent down to kiss her forehead, and was about to turn back when he heard Rory's voice call his attention again.

"Don't even think about looking over your shoulder," she warned him.

"If he taught the other guy…"

"Logan…" she warned him again.

"Alright, alright. But if it just so happens that I have to help you deliver this baby, I'm going to say 'I told you so'."

"Well you're not going to have to do that, so stop worrying about it."

"Fine, but we're finding out the sex of the baby today."

* * *

Lorelai and April were sitting in the living room watching _Mean Girls_ and eating one of Luke's burgers when they heard the phone ring and Lorelai jumped up from the couch to answer it. "So what'd they say?"

"They didn't say anything! Damn technician couldn't see a thing. I still say it's a girl." She was cuddled up in the couch, still in her pajamas. She felt the now more usual fluttering from inside her and she turned to her side, rubbing the other side of her belly with her free hand, letting the baby know that her usual request for food was on its way and she wasn't being ignored.

"Aw, Hon, I thought you said you thought you were having a boy last time."

"No, no. It's going to be a girl. I'm sure of it now. My hormones were just throwing me off last time. Logan still thinks I'm having twins though. He's still a little disappointed the sonogram guy didn't agree with him."

"Tell Logan I said that he can't ask for twins until he knows what it's like to push another human being's body out of a tiny hole."

"Oh, ew! That just sounds gross. I'm not telling him that. I don't even want to think about that." She heard the door open and close. "I gotta go, Logan brought food. Enjoy your lunch."

"Enjoy your dinner."

"Bye." Rory hung up as she felt Logan's warm hands move her camisole up in an effort to feel the fluttering he's sure is the reason her hand is placed at the side of her ribcage. He squeezes his way in between her and the back of the couch in order to spoon more comfortably. He kissed the back of her neck as she molded her body to fit his.

"I'm starting to think these kids and you are in cahoots to stay as still as possible whenever I'm around."

"I swear, she was moving just a second ago. You literally missed it by like ten seconds."

"Well we're not moving from this couch until _they_ let Daddy know they want to eat. I only get complaints from Mommy that they're giving her hell because they want to eat, but they need to let Daddy know too."

And just then, as if on cue, he felt slow movement from inside her skin. From one side to the other, and then a kick. They felt more movement and then a couple of other kicks from the other side. He was holding his hand to her abdomen without moving, without even breathing, entranced at the final compliance to his requests.


End file.
